Shadow of Ideals
by Z3r0bi
Summary: Former ranger, Noxis runs from his former life. With the past haunting him and former colleagues chasing him, he only thinks he can run. Rated M for language and violence. Currently accepting OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, the contents revolving around and within Pokémon, and all of that fun stuff. If I ever do gain ownership, I will tell all! But for now, I don't, sorry. All OCs are owned by their respective creators.

**Author's Notes: **I highly encourage any constructive criticism because it does help me make the story better for everyone's enjoyment. Please feel free to review and all that fun stuff. I've had this story stuck in my head for a few months now and I'm actually going to write it. The story overall was inspired by the whole 'Heroes of Truth and Ideals' in Pokémon B/W. Anyways, let's get this started!

**-Prologue**

Ever since I was young I always wanted to be a hero, just like every kid out there in the world. I even went to Ranger school just so I can save both Pokémon and people alike. Yeah, life was easy then at the age of ten, I didn't have a care in the world. My Cyndaquil that I obtained back from my hometown, Mahogany Town, became my partner during my missions. The poor little guy.. He was stolen from me during a mission, and when I recovered him, he became afraid of people; even now, as a Typhlosion, all because of that experiment. I was among the few to become a Top Ranger at my age, but things went downhill after my first mission as a Top Ranger. Saving Pokémon, that's what my job is, and that's what stripped me of my rank. I'm eighteen now, practically a fugitive, my life is on the line and I risk the life of those around me as well. I fought for what I thought was right and now I am being hunted for my ideals.

Yeah, I always wanted to be a hero.. Never did I think I would get wrapped up in this mess..

**-Chapter 1**

I lie on the hard bed staring up at the ceiling in front of me. The chill breeze lingers in the air despite that no windows or doors are open. My eyes scan around the room to take in the view of bare walls, a small wooden table with two chairs to accompany it huddle in the corner, a lamp in another corner, and the television stationed next to the lamp. My Typhlosion's rough breathing travels to my ears; the guy hasn't slept like this in a long time. Typhlosion, my companion for so many years, I can remember when I first got him as a Cyndaquil in the shiny, red ball that my master gave me when I was young. My Typhlosion is not the same as others, his fur coat is white, opposed to how most Typhlosion's would have dark blue, all because of the experiment those years ago.

My eyes wander some more and I find my Ranger clothes scattered on the floor near the door. The hooded, red vest kept the white tank top and black shorts from the floor. My metallic chains—made from discarded Aron scraps—rests on my dirty pair of black shoes. The capture styler rests on the pile of clothes and reflects the light from the ceiling. My eyes return to the ceiling and the first thought that immediately comes to my mind is that haunting lecture.

"I'm sorry Noxis, but I will have to strip you of your Top ranger rank," Professor Hasting's voice echoed.

"For doing what? Fighting for what was right?" I question.

"No, you broke the code of the Rangers and you will have to pay the consequences. You went too far Noxis, it was one thing to stop the army from attacking, but it was another thing by attacking them. You never hurt people, even if they interfere with your mission."

A knock at the door snaps me back into reality, it even woke up my sleeping friend. Typhlosion's head snapped up, his keen eyes target the door. I slowly move off the bed, shuffling to the door. The knocks continue to echo throughout the room; I really wish people weren't so troublesome.

When I open the door I see a woman with light brown hair falling to her shoulders, her breaths are heavy and tired. I could see my own crimson eyes within her wide-open, brown eyes. "Nox! Come with me!" She grabs my wrist through the doorway before I can protest and drags me into the hallway. My Typhlosion follows along, not for my protection, but for the woman's.

The woman leads me all the way outside of the center and into the cold night lit up by the full moon that hovers over the planet. Lavender Town, there is always an eerie sensation that taints the air. A crowd of people stand behind an invisible wall, each of them staring at the tall tower that shadows over them. From just looking at the tower, there's nothing wrong with it, hell the thing was transformed into a radio tower anyway so I don't understand why there is such a crowd out here. I get pulled and dragged through the crowd until we're in front, still I see nothing.

I turn my head to the woman and ask, "Why did you bring me all the way out here?"

"The radio tower is haunted, just like it was before it became the radio tower," The woman explains in a frantic voice. This woman is Lilian, better known as Mrs. Secretary-of-the-Radio-Tower. She gets a bit scared or startled over little things and even now, she's freaking out when no one else really is.

"It's haunted?" I raise a brow. I remember several years ago when the tower was first a graveyard for deceased Pokémon, but ever since it was transformed into the Radio Tower there hasn't been a case of the tower being haunted at all. If anything, the graveyard, not so far from here, should be haunted.

She nods vigorously with wide eyes. "Just like it was before it turned into the radio tower. The spirits are angry!" Her voice begins to rise in loudness. "What are we going to do! What is going to happen to the tower! Oh my—what will happen to everyone's job!"

I place a hand on her shoulder and calmly say, "Lilian calm down. Everything will be okay. You dragged me out here so I can look into it right?"

However, my voice didn't really calm her down nor did it even penetrate her ears. "I can't even begin to imagine what will happen to all of us! Our jobs will be in peril if the tower is haunted again!"

I repeat to her, "Lilian, calm down." I repeat my sentence a couple more times, and each time my voice became louder; I even shook her a bit for her to calm down. "Now, you wanted me to look into it, right?" She nods. "Okay then, I'll go in now, don't follow and if anyone else tries to follow please tell them not to, drag them back if you need to. Understand?" She nods again. "I'm going in now," I turn my back to her and walk towards the entrance of the tower, "let's go Typhlosion." Without even looking I know he's following right along.

The entering doors move aside as I enter, my bare feet feel the coldness of the tiles. I could see my sleeping gear reflected on the tiles, a simple t-shirt and gym shorts; my dyed, white hair is a little messy, but I could care less. My eyes gaze around the lobby finding nothing out of the sort or even interesting just the usual tables, couches, magazines, and counter for the front desk attendants. "Sense anything Typhlosion?" I ask my friend. I hear him sniff a bit, when I look at him he slowly shakes his head. "Let's head on up then." I make way for the set of stairs that settle in the corner.

At the end of the stairs is a long hallway decorated with framed pictures and doors; strange that this floor used to hold graves of deceased Pokémon. I slowly walk through the hall, taking as much scenery as I can with my eyes even though all I see are the framed pictures and doors. However, now that I listen more carefully, it's quiet. The kind of quiet that is questionable and ominous. I can feel the cold tingling sensation crawl up my body as I begin to pay more attention to the silence that surrounds me and Typhlosion. The end of the hallway draws near and I can find a small lobby with a couple of small tables and a water fountain backing up against the wall. That's when I hear it. A laugh, a hysterical laugh. Typhlosion heard it too, with the way he's staring at every which way, I know he heard it.

"Be on your guard my friend," I say to Typhlosion as I gaze around the lobby myself.

My best guess would be the laugh belongs to a Gengar, they're known to laugh hysterically. If I remember correctly from my capture styler's data, Gengar also likes to possess shadows especially on a night like this, a full moon. I look at mine and Typhlosion's shadow, and like I predicted they're moving around by themselves. My shadow is flailing its arms around as Typhlosion's shadow is jumping. For a few seconds the actions continue, when they stop both mine and Typhlosion's shadows have their mouths wide open and they're laughing, first the laughs are inaudible, but we hear the same hysterical laugh like before. Our shadows separate from us and crawl to the wall until we can look straight at it without having to glance at the floor. The shadows begin to shrink until two dark violet creatures hover over the ground, Gengar.

Gengar, a ghost and poison type Pokémon, also known as the shadow Pokémon. I've seen plenty of Gengars on missions in ruined buildings or grave sites. In the "wild" they like to play with their target, meaning they want to confuse or catch their target off-guard so they can do as much damage as they can. Typhlosion has dealt with plenty of Gengars back in Oblivia, when I was stationed there. If these Gengars are like the ones in Oblivia then they shouldn't be too much of a nuisance, but I should never underestimate a Pokemon's strength especially in a region where the Pokémon are more aggressive.

"Typhlosion," I say to him, "I don't have my styler on me so you'll have to repel them yourself." Typhlosion looks at me and nods, he slowly walks in front of me and stares at the pair of Gengars.

The Gengars laugh with their mouths opened wide exposing their large tongue in the process. Now I really wish I could've grabbed my items or other Pokémon, Honchkrow would be a great Pokémon to have at the moment. The Gengars rapidly dash at Typhlosion with sinister grins on their faces. Instead of charging straight at Typhlosion to attack, they circle around him laughing loudly as if this battle is a game. My friend, however, knows this isn't a game as he coughs out a continuous stream of gray smoke out of his mouth. I know what he's doing, blinding the Gengar and then attacking them within the smoke. The only thing I can see other than the smoke would be the flashes of fire that emanate from Typhlosion. The Gengars let grunts of pain when being hit, they laugh no more. My ears try to pick up as much of the conflict as possible, but nothing loud or drastic can be heard. The smoke slowly clears up and by the time it does, the battle is finished also. Typhlosion stares at the wall attentively and the Gengars are no longer in sight, I look at my shadow and it returns to be completely normal. Typhlosion shows no sign of exhaustion or damage, but his eyes are so focused on the wall that it almost seems like the Gengars are still waiting to attack.

I slowly walk to Typhlosion praising, "Good job Typhlosion." I gently rub between his ears, being careful not to accidently cause a small flame. Typhlosion lets out a little snarl with a trail of smoke, guess the Gengars annoyed him. Typhlosion slowly relaxes his body and breathes deeply. "Ready to go back?" I ask him, without a nod he walks to the stairs and I follow.

As I walk I feel an immediate rush of coldness through my body. I freeze up, I can't even move a finger. My eyes refuse to close, my mouth refuses to open. Typhlosion stares at me in confusion and barks at me several times. Inside my head I can hear the repetition of hysterical laughing, the same ones the Gengars have. The laughs are torturing my head, I'm not scared, I'm annoyed. I feel as if someone is trying to pull my brain apart to get information. The laughs immediately subside and I regain movement of my body. I can feel the Gengar exiting out of my body to float in front of me. It turns to me and laughs again before it rises into and through the ceiling.

I drop to my knees, breathing heavily. My whole body feels cold. Typhlosion blows out a small flame, similar to how a flamethrower, in front of me to warm me up. I lift my head to look at Typhlosion to say, "Thanks Ty, I'll be fine now." I slowly stand up and begin to walk.

When both Typhlosion and I enter the lobby from the bottom of the stairs Lilian is inside and she is overfilled with joy. "I saw those Gengars fly away! You did it Nox!" She shouted, grabbing a hold of my shoulders and jumped joyously in front of me.

"Glad to help," I say to her, "I'll be heading back to the center now."

"So early?" She questions. "It's only eight."

"I know, but I have to leave early tomorrow. I have some important business to attend to," I lie under my breath. I need to leave before _they_ begin to search here.

Lilian retreats her arms and says disappointed, "Oh, I see. Well get some rest."

"Night Lilian, be safe," I say to her as I leave with Typhlosion.

When I exit out of the tower I immediately go straight to the center and into my room, which was still open. I examine the room to make sure nothing was stolen, opening up my pouch that is connected to my belt to find all of items inside untouched. After fully examining the room Typhlosion goes to his resting spot and I turn off the lights and lie on the bed. I gaze outside the window to find the full moon shining brightly over the town. The encounter with Gengars was nothing compared to what I had to do in that ship, but I'd rather not remember that day, all of my Pokémon would rather avoid remembering that day as well.

My eyes close seeing the abyss of darkness waiting the next time they'll open.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2

Mist dances into the moonlit night. The haunting ship rocks back and forth, back and forth. Bone-chilling cries echo loudly down each dark corridor. Rusty pipes release powerful steam, scorching anything that crossed its path. Creaking, wooden doors at the brink of breaking, hid secrets behind its body. Wandering ghost Pokémon cackled hysterically, their voices taunt me. Typhlosion's cry was loud and frightened, that's not like him.

I run. I run as quickly as I can. I have to find Typhlosion; I can't let him relive his trauma. Dodging the cackling ghosts, evading the breaking pipes, everything became an obstacle. Shadows follow me, crawling along the walls and floor. Sinister faces are plastered on the shadows. I look back and a shadowy arm reaches for my ankle. I pull my leg free, but the shadows quickly surround me. Shadowy arms reach for me, pulling me every which way. I'm dragged and submerged into darkness. My arms refuse to move. My breaths become short. I gasp for nonexistent air. There's no escape.

My body shoots forward into a sitting position. I sigh deeply and wipe the sheet of sweat off my forward. "Damn nightmares," I murmur to the white sheets. My eyes wander and find Typhlosion in his resting pose, but his eyes are opened and tired. Poor guy couldn't sleep again. I look at the clock above the television, it flashed 6:12am within the darkness of the room; just enough time for me get ready.

My tired body scoots its way off of the damp bed. I didn't realize how much I was really sweating in my sleep until I felt my shirt cling against my chest. My feet shuffle against the carpeted floor, good thing Typhlosion doesn't care for my early morning annoyances. As I move into the bathroom, my foot drags my clothes in with me. The light of the bathroom flicks on once I enter. Out of habit, my eyes immediately close. My hands find the counter and I lean forward. As I slowly open my eyes, I see a crimson pair of eyes staring straight at me. My vision slowly becomes clearer and I see my rough face, black facial stubs outline my jaw.

I rub my eyes and sigh again. I shed off my damp clothes and step into the shower stall. I press a large button for water to start sprinkling out of the showerhead. I press another for the water to be moderately warm. All of the other buttons consists of controlling the temperature of the water, aromatic scents, certain speeds or patterns for the water to jet out, and even music that can be played by waterproof speakers built into the stall. There are even switches that control a small television screen for people to watch while they clean themselves. Really high-tech for a town like this.

Instead of focusing the luxurious assortment of buttons that can contribute to my showering experience, I end up just going into deep thought and reminiscence. First to cross my mind is the memory of training in the secret dojo back in Mahogany town. Good times, I guess, constantly training and being pushed to the limit. In the end, it did help in my favor. Next were quick memories of meeting each Pokémon on my team. Simply getting Cyndaquil as a gift, encountering Murkrow in the Lyra Forest back in Fiore, helping Gligar defend itself against a gang of Gligars and Gliscors, finding Scyther abandoned and injured in Saffron, fishing Chinchou in Cianwood during one of their fishing competitions, and rescuing Larvitar during an avalanche on Mount Silver. Of course, they've all evolved since those times, but I wonder if they regret meeting me. They've all endured great fear and pain because they're with me. If only one of them was a psychic type, maybe then they could tell me things through telepathic means.

I press the big button again and the water slowly shuts off. I open the door of the stall and find a pleasant steam floating about. The mirror was slightly fogged, but I could see the bangs of my hair cling against my forehead. I'm not the best looking guy out there nor do I have a model's body, but I do have to admit I look pretty strong and sturdy; and I have to thank the training I went through back in sweet old Mahogany Town.

After drying myself with a towel I begin to equip myself with my gear. The black shorts, stitched with many pockets, clings to my hips. My metallic chain hangs down from a belt loop and rubs against my right thigh. The white tank top loosely rests against my upper body. The red vest hangs over the tank top; the chest pockets of the vest have several items within them that consist of my identification, money, and almost anything that's a necessity. A pair of socks nicely fit inside a pair of black shoes. I move towards the slowly clearing mirror and begin to work on my hair. I dyed it white a few years ago, and I just like the look. It's short, but the bangs fall over my forehead. Shaved into the side of my head is a design that mimics fire. A single, black, fingerless glove hugs against my right hand and I equip my capture styler, the fine version, to my right wrist. My red belt loops through the left side of my pants and slant down to my right. A black pouch is attached to the right end of my belt.

I exit the bathroom and light turns off behind me. I carry my sleeping clothes and put them inside a small, red bag. My finger gently glides over my capture styler, it flashes the time at me, 6:30am. After finishing up some extra cleaning and making sure I have everything I need, I say to Typhlosion, "Time to go buddy." I open the door and wait for my fiery friend to come.

Typhlosion slowly stood and moved towards me. The door closes behind the volcano Pokémon and he follows me down the hall. I make my way to the lobby of the Poke center, and of course, there's Nurse Joy, one out of the thousands out there, and her Chansey. Nurse Joy is always wide awake, no matter the time of day. I move to her and give her a small plastic card that had my room number inked into it. She gave a warm smile and said, "Oh, you're leaving Noxis? It's only been two days."

I nod and fold my arms, lying under my breath like I did to Lilian last night, "Yeah, I have some business to get to in Saffron City." Technically, I'm not lying because I will be going to Saffron, but that'll be for a short time.

"I see," Nurse Joy replied, still retaining that warm smile. Her hand slowly takes the card and she says, "I hope you enjoyed your stay. And thank you on behalf of the radio tower employees. I heard all about it on the news last night."

"Of course, tell them I say thanks for giving me something to do. And thank you for your hospitality," I reply and begin to move away from the desk.

After I make it beyond the sliding doors of the Pokémon center, my shoes press firmly against the cold cement that made the town paths. It was still dark and somewhat chilly. There were a few shop owners and workers beginning another day of their lives. I reach into my pouch and pull out a Pokeball. "Come on out Honchkrow," I say as the white and red ball opens and emits a white light.

Forming from the white light is a dark bird that appears like its wearing a hat. The bird even looks like it has a beard of white. Honchkrow cried out tiredly, folding one of her wings in enough to make it look like she's yawning. Honchkrows are natural pranksters, and mine isn't an exception. However, my Honchkrow knows when to be serious and when not to be, luckily.

"Ready to take me into the air?" I ask. Honchkrow nods and flaps its wings, creating a small gust of wind. "You know the drill Ty, you'll be out once we get to Saffron," I say to Typhlosion, pulling out a red, cherish ball.

Typhlosion snarls and puffs out a small fire. He likes the freedom of roaming around, but he knows his role. A red light surrounded Typhlosion and he materialized into the Pokeball.

"Let's go Honchkrow, to Saffron City," I put my arm up and Honchkrow's talons gently wrap around my forearm and lift me into the air. Despite her size, Honchkrow can carry me for miles without showing signs of fatigue and I've had to use Honchkrow for transportation several times so my arms don't give out as quickly as they used to.

After flying straight into the air, high enough for me to overlook the eerie town that is Lavender Town, Honchkrow began to propel forward. I look below and find a dirt path dividing fields of grass and cluster of trees. Nature has a refreshing aroma, especially after being in a town like Lavender Town. The sun slowly began to rise across the horizon, bringing a pleasant glow of orange to take over the reign of blue. For some strange reason, people were wandering throughout this route at this early hour. I don't think I'll ever understand how Pokémon trainers can be so determined to get to their next destination, even if it means depriving themselves of sleep.

The scenery of the route was pleasant and nice. It ended all too soon when the skyscrapers began to erect into view. Although I do enjoy the city landscape more than I do nature, a whiff of nature every once in a while is definitely a breath of fresh air. Honchkrow began to descend into the city. Several cars drove on the morning roads. A few people were going to work, as others jogged on the sidewalks. Joggers, they always jog at ridiculous hours of the day.

Honchkrow descends in front of the Pokémon center and releases me from her grip. I land lightly on the sidewalk and I pull out Honchkrow's Pokeball. "Thanks for the lift Honchkrow, you can go back to sleep," I say as the red beaming light surrounds Honchkrow and absorbs her into the ball. I trade Honchkrow's Pokeball for Typhlosions and the white light formed and became Typhlosion. "Here we are."

Typhlosion looks around and gave an unsatisfied grunt. Figures, he doesn't like people, even if there aren't that many up and about. I begin walking and he follows beside me. I look at my capture styler and a hologram appeared above it. I gently press an image of a map and the overview of Saffron City appeared in the hologram. "Remember the last time we were here?" I ask Typhlosion, who gives another grunt. I slightly chuckle as I close the hologram.

As I move across sidewalks and roads, gliding by other pedestrians and stores, I begin to reminisce about the last time I was here. It was a rainy day and I was looking for the Poke center. Quilava wrapped around my neck like a scarf to hide its body under the hood of my vest. As I ran along the sidewalk I saw Scyther get kicked out of a house. Bruises were swelling under his eye and all over his legs, and his chest was bleeding rapidly. He was still conscious, but too hurt to move. He hissed at my presence, but I carried him and was able to make it to the Pokémon center on time. Nurse Joy of Saffron City quickly took him in and gave me a room for the night. By morning, Scyther was patched up with bandages and his bruises were healing. Before I could leave, Scyther tugged at my clothes. Of course, I couldn't understand so I just gave it a pat on the head, smiled, and tried to leave. Again, Scyther tugged my clothes and this time I gave it some more thought. It took me some time to finally realize Scyther wanted to travel with me, so with a spare Pokeball he allowed me to capture him.

"All a fleeting memory now," I mutter. I look at the surrounding stores and smell the fresh scent of bread. My stomach growls, but getting to the magnet train is priority right now.

After a few more blocks and avoiding any confrontation with pedestrians, though several of them stared at Typhlosion, I make it to the station for the magnetic train. The sliding doors open when I'm in close range and I'm exposed to a large room equipped with large screens, chairs, kiosks, people, and Pokémon. A large screen that hangs onto the ceiling displays the departure time of the next train. Other screens play videos or clips of the news. There were a few people wandering about, probably waiting for the security to allow them to get onto the platform.

I move to a kiosk and press several buttons that consist of how many travelers, what kind of ticket I want, and things of the sort. I put in my money and in return I get a nice flashy blue and yellow ticket for the upcoming train.

"Train for seven o'clock will be here in five minutes," a low, rough voice announced over the intercoms. Security is finally letting people through the gates.

I show my ticket to the security team at the gate. One was tall with a sharp face and cold, distant eyes. Nothing really escapes his lips other than single words. The other was an average sized man with a nice goatee forming around his mouth. They look at me, then at the ticket, then back at me. "You a ranger?" the security guard with a goatee asked.

"Yeah," I reply, somewhat lying.

"I see, shouldn't you have some kind of bird Pokémon that can take you across regions?" he asked.

I shrug my shoulders, saying, "I do, but even Pokémon need breaks too."

"Mm hmm," he murmured, "you can go through now."

"Thanks," I reply, finally walking through the gate.

My legs carry me up a few stairs and I find myself in a large tunnel. Half of the tunnel is the platform where my fellow passengers are standing. Small benches and signs are placed on the platform. The other half is the rails and dirt where the train will soon stop by. Several of the passengers are business people commuting to their job. Who takes a job in a completely different region though? Pretty ridiculous, but whatever puts food on the table for them.

As I wait for the train to come by, I overhear a conversation between two businessmen. "So in the Unova region, I heard that there's something called the Battle Subway."

"Battle Subway, what's that?"

"People battle on the subway to their destination. They get prizes if they can beat people and after going on the subway for a while, you can battle the conductor."

"Sounds kind of dangerous."

"Maybe, but I want to go someday. I'll take a vacation cruise there with my family, and my son and I can battle on the subway."

Unova, I've only been there once, just for a small mission that involved transporting items. I'd really like to visit again though, the combination of technology and nature there is incredible. Though the fact that the region is shaped like a Pokeball is pretty strange to me.

A loud honk of the magnetic train echoed within the tunnel. The train, itself, is soundless so the conductor honks to warn people it's coming. The hovering train began to slow down. Once the full length of the train matched with the length of the platform, it began to descend to the level of the platform. Doors opened and people began to pile inside. I enter the last car of the train and take a seat facing a wide window. Typhlosion sits next to me, patiently and quiet. Sitting across from me is an elderly woman dressed in veils and cloths of regal colors.

I look around to find businessmen, teenagers, and some elderly people within the same car. My eyes go back to the elderly woman across from me. Several earrings pierced both of her ears and they ring each time she moves her head. She carried a crystal ball on a soft pillow. Next to her are two Natus that are impressively still, even when the train started to move.

The train slowly drifts away from the tunnel. The scenery of skyscrapers quickly flies by as the train picks up speed. The train takes approximately forty-five minutes to an hour to get to Goldenrod. Between the two cities are landscapes of skyscrapers and towns, and for nature lovers there's some great scenery of meadows and forests. The train is quiet, both inside and out. Idle chatter among passengers is normal, especially for a trip this long. I just gaze outside the windows to take in the nice, pleasant scenery.

I wonder if my former friends and colleagues are in Lavender Town right now. Hunting for me, asking almost everyone where I went. The only clue they'll get is that I'm in Saffron City, and I'm long gone from there. Ha, I wonder when they'll ever give up. Then again, I'm a secret top wanted by the Ranger Union. The best of the best rangers are coming after me. They'll pursue me even if I was dead.

"Young man," the elderly woman calls out to me. Her voice is rough and low.

My eyes train on her face, wrinkled and creasing around the eye region. I stare at her clear grey eyes, and ask, "Yeah?"

"For a small donation, I will read your fortune," she proposed.

I have some time to spare, and some change. Why not watch and hear this woman deduce what will become of my life, as if I don't already know. "Sure, why not?" I reply. "How much?"

"Just a few coins," she replied, grinning.

I reach into one of my vest pockets and pull out a few silver coins. I lean over and put the coins gently into her wrinkly hands. "Thank you young man." She tucks the coins away in a purple pouch attached to her hip. Her hands move over her crystal ball fluidly like water washing up on a beach. The eyes of her Natus glow a vibrant, calming blue. The crystal ball began to glow as well, matching the color of the Natu eyes. The woman closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

I look around and I see some of the other passengers fascinated with the woman's show. Teenagers were in awe, their mouths wide open and staring at the crystal ball intently. Now that I think about it, they might be planning on stealing the crystal ball.

The woman hums somewhat melodically, but it sounds more like a chant. "You are a very troubled person, are you not, Noxis?" Ah, so you figured out my name, how impressive. She continues, "Faced quite a few literal and metaphorical maelstroms, have you not?"

"Hasn't everyone?" I say with a slight chuckle. I lean back into my seat and cross my legs. Wonder what else she has to say.

"With your past, it's very unsettling. So dark, so deceiving. Your Cyndaquil was stolen from you and it too, even as this current Typhlosion, has faced its share of maelstroms. Its fur is white because it was experimented on by scientists. Since then, it chooses to trust only you and your team," she says and continues to hum.

"Impressive," I say, nodding. I kind of am impressed, though I really wish she wouldn't have brought that up, especially with Typhlosion sitting right next to me. I look at the volcano Pokémon and he gives the woman a glare.

She continued, "You have a very troublesome history, young man. You follow your heart, even if it interferes with authority. Which is why you are in your current position."

I just nod. I'll admit that I'm pretty impressed that she knows all of this. But I think I know how she's doing it. Her Natus are probably the ones doing all of the work and she's just the messenger. Natus are part psychic, so they might be able to communicate telepathically. My theory goes like this, one Natu dwells into my memory and tells the other. The other Natu then takes that information and tells the woman telepathically. Then the woman relays the information to me. It may just be a theory, but it's pretty logical too.

"Your future seems just as troublesome. You will be tangled in some conspiracy. During that time, you will begin to realize your potential," the woman suddenly gasped. The glow of her Natus and crystal ball stopped. "I'm sorry, I used all of the power I can."

"That's fine, thanks for the insight," I reply. I can't really question the whole troublesome part, considering I'm running away right now. And realizing my potential? Potential in what exactly? My potential in how much I can hide in the shadows and not get caught by the light? Really wish she would've finished her thoughts before cutting me off.

The rest of the trip was pretty quiet and smooth. The old woman ended up falling asleep on the train, the drool on her cloth and veils proves my point. Typhlosion sits patiently, but his head continues to bob as his eyes tiredly try to stay awake. Even when I suggest that Ty goes into his Pokeball, he refuses. It's always like that, I don't even know why I ask.

When the train finally stops, we're in another tunnel. The train matches the level of the platform and everyone gets off. I follow the crowd through an exit and find myself outside. The nice, crisp air has a nice breeze that follows it. A pleasant glow of orange soars throughout the sky, taking over the former darkness. The amazing radio tower stands tall with a large satellite tower on its head. Buildings stand tall, people scatter about, unlit lampposts stand next to long benches, and Pokémon were accompanying their trainers. Children and teenagers walk to school, obviously tired from staying up late.

I walk among some pedestrians, possibly some workers. Typhlosion gets his usual fascinated stares from people. Even I get some stares too, mostly because my eyes are a rather unnatural color. My white hair does stand out, but if you've seen the fashion style of this current generation, my white hair is normal compared to the wild, spiking multitude of colors.

After wandering around for some blocks I finally figure out what I'll do. If the rangers are indeed looking for me right now in Lavender Town, they'll soon go to Saffron. From Saffron they might hear that I'm in Goldenrod. By then, I should be able to hide somewhere in this large city; if not, I'll most likely be in Ecruteak City. The best thing for me is to go to another region and hope they won't follow, but to go to another region requires me to either buy a ticket for a ship or to have some high-speed flying Pokémon like a Dragonite.

A man wearing a black cap with a large trench coat bumps into me. I look at him and find his head facing the ground and his whole body hunched forward. "Sorry," I say to him.

He looks up at me, I get a glimpse of his green eyes and round face. "You look strong," he says in a whispery tone.

"What?" I ask.

"Let's battle in the underground tunnel," he says with his whispery tone.

My brow raises and I ask, "And why would I just battle you out of the blue?"

"You look strong. I want to battle you to see how strong you really are," the man says.

What's a little battle? People battle all the time, and just as long as he doesn't overdo it, I can let him get a taste of my team. "Fine, lead the way," I say to him.

He complies and leads me through streets and alleys. We enter a small home-like structure, but inside it's nothing, but stairs. I follow him down the stairs until we finally make it to a big area littered with trash. A musk of garbage lingers. Litter covers the tile floors and attempt to climb up the walls. It's dim, signs and a few weak lights light up the area. Typhlosion sniffs a couple of times and grunts due to his displeasure. There's a few people down here too, each of them were dressed in baggy clothing. As I pass them, they shoot looks at me. I can't really describe precisely, it's a mix of anger with fascination.

The man suddenly stops moving, I almost bump into him again. He turns and says, "Here's a good spot." I look around and find the area pretty wide. The only thing that could really get in the way is the tables lined up against the wall.

"Let's get this stared then," I say, taking a few steps away from the man. Before I reach into my pouch for a Pokeball I see a sly grin form at the edges of the man's mouth.

I have a feeling this battle has some secret intention behind it.


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3

The man reaches into his trench coat and pulls out a Pokeball. He throws it to the ground and a white light comes from the ball. The light reveals a Houndoom with short horns, a female. The Houndoom puffs out a small flame and howls. The howl echoes throughout the tunnel and catches the attention of the people within the tunnel. It reveals its sharp canines and violently whips its arrow-ended tail.

Houndoom, a dark and fire Pokémon. They're usually compared to death and the grim reaper because of the eerie howls they let out. The burns they can cause can result in permanent damage. Definitely a Pokémon that people should avoid angering.

At first I was thinking of putting Gliscor in, but the small area would be in peril if I were to put him in. I look to Typhlosion and point at the man and his Houndoom with my head. Typhlosion nods and steps forward. The two fire Pokémon exchange glares and await battle orders. The Houndoom lets out another howl. Typhlosion's neck flames sprouted wildly.

"Flamethrower!" the man orders his Houndoom.

Typical attack for a trainer with a fire-type Pokémon. Either the guy is in a rush to get the action started or he forgot that Typhlosion is a fire-type Pokémon. Houndoom lunges into the air and breathes out a stream of orange-red flames at Typhlosion. Typhlosion quickly dodges by hopping to the side and is on all fours. His attention focuses on Houndoom. Houndoom lands and moves its head to aim at Typhlosion with the stream of fire.

I don't necessarily need to give orders to Typhlosion about what to do or when. He's smart enough to battle by himself and utilize effective moves regardless of who is opponents are. It may sound like he's really independent, but he can make some dull choices. Plus, he actually trusts and listens to me, so he's always willing to follow my commands, even if I give bad calls.

I run through a quick list of attacks that Typhlosion knows. Over the years I've had to use those Technical and Hidden Machines, which adds more to the arsenal of attacks for each of my Pokémon. Then I think of combinations to make the attacks more effective. Houndooms have the ability to absorb fire attacks which makes them stronger, so I have to rule out a majority of Typhlosion's attacks. "Quick Attack and Shadow Claw," I say, folding my arms. I never understood why it's so natural for trainers to just watch their Pokémon battle it out.

A purple aura began to surround one of Typhlosion's claws. The aura was ghostly and mesmerizing. Typhlosion moved quickly, leaving a blur and trail of flames behind him. Typhlosion appears above the Houndoom and the claw with the purple aura slashes against the dark Pokémon. Houndoom cries out in pain and tackles Typhlosion away, sending him into the air.

"Use Crunch!" the man orders. He's not necessarily into the battle, but he's not really bored of it either.

"Rollout and Wild Charge Ty," I say.

In mid-air, Typhlosion curls into a ball and begins to rotate rapidly. Surges of electricity surround the rotating volcano Pokémon. Houndoom's canines lightly glow white and the dark Pokémon jumped towards Typhlosion. The two Pokémon collide, Houndoom took most of the damage and slams into the ground. Typhlosion flies back, towards me, and uncurls himself. He lands firmly on the ground and slides back a bit. From the way Typhlosion shakes and winces his eye, he took some damage from his own attack.

Houndoom slowly pushes itself up onto its paws. It's tired, but willing to continue the battle. "Use Foul Play Houndoom!" the man ordered, he threw his fist forward as if he was physically contributing to the battle.

Houndoom growls and its eyes glow an ominous purple. The same glow surrounds Typhlosion's arms. Typhlosion's arms begin shaking as they inch closer and closer to the volcano Pokémon's face. Suddenly, Typhlosion starts slapping himself. The strange works of Foul Play, the attack makes the target use their physical strength against themselves.

All I need Typhlosion to do is do an attack that doesn't require him to concentrate too hard, but still hit the target. I run through the list again, coming up with a single attack. "Swift," I command, hoping that my plan will work.

Typhlosion focuses for a split second when he's not slapping himself. He opens his mouth, a speeding star shoots from his mouth straight at Houndoom. Even when Typhlosion's face redirects to the side, the star arches and continue its course to hit Houndoom. Swift, an attack that never misses, it may not be the strongest, but when used at the right moment it can alter the flow of a battle.

"Dodge it!" the man barks his order.

It was inevitable, Houndoom is bound to get hit. Once the star makes direct contact to the Houndoom's face, it lets out a high-pitched yelp. The glow in Houndoom's eyes and the glow around Typhlosion's arms disappear into thin air. Houndoom tries to stand, but its exhaustion ultimately gets the better of the dark Pokémon. The opposing man stomps his foot as he watches his Pokémon fall sideways.

"Return," the man says, saddened. The red light of the Pokeball surrounds the unconscious Pokémon and absorbs it back into the ball. "Shit," I hear the man say at the loss of his first Pokémon. He reaches into his trench coat again and pulls out another Pokeball. He throws it, revealing Typhlosion's next combatant, a Mismagius.

Oh Mismagius, the Pokémon looks like some decoration someone would hang outside their door. Honestly, it looks like some small, raggedy ghost wearing a witch hat. The small, purple Pokémon has three gems stuck to its body. It hums hauntingly, as if it was chanting a witch's spell.

"Power gem!" the man immediately orders.

This isn't going to be good. The red gems on Mismagius glows and a beam of glittering light targets Typhlosion. The attack hits Typhlosion square on the chest and even launches him back. Typhlosion stands and shakes off the attack. He glares at the magical Pokémon and growls.

Typhlosion could probably take another hit, but I should play it safe. "Ty, stand down," I say. He looks at me and nods without question. As Typhlosion makes his way behind me I reach into my pouch and pull out a Pokeball. I lightly toss and it bounces back into my hand.

Honchkrow appears and lets out a tired chirp. She tilts her hat-like head and looks straight at her opponent. "Sorry for waking you again Honchkrow, but you get to battle," I say. Honchkrow seemingly shrugs and hops forward a few feet.

"Power Gem!" the man repeats. I don't blame him for doing the same attack since it is an effective attack against Honchkrow, but doing the same attacks leads to a predictable strategy.

Once again, the gems of Mismagius glow and the beams of light aim for Honchkrow. "Aerial Ace," I say to Honchkrow.

Honchkrow quickly flaps its wings, nearly avoiding the Power Gem beam that collides into the floor. Honchkrow begins flying towards Mismagius, but she suddenly disappears. She reappears in front of Mismagius and tackles the magical Pokémon. A haunting shriek echoes from the magical Pokémon as it hits the ground.

Honchkrow flies back to me and caws triumphantly. She can be pretty cocky at times, especially if she has the advantage of the battle. Her cockiness can be pretty annoying though and can be her downfall. She's not the strongest member of my team, but she has a lot of tricks up her feathers which can help her against several opponents. With her dark and flying-type combination, she's immune to several attacks, but everyone Pokémon has their weaknesses.

Mismagius finally floats back into the air and wails. Its trainer is gritting his teeth, yet I can see a smirk. Makes me question why this guy really wants to battle me. "Shadow Sneak!" he commands.

Mismagius' wail becomes a battle cry. I look at the magical Pokémon's shadow and it swiftly travels towards Honchkrow. Honchkrow's and Mismagius' shadows merge into one and I see a tentacle-like figure extend and reach for Honchkrow. It was too late for me to give a command for Honchkrow, but Shadow Sneak shouldn't conflict too much damage. The tentacle wraps around Honchkrow's feet and pulls her to the floor. I hear the thud and feel sorry for Honchkrow. The shadow tentacle wraps around Honchkrow and I can see it tightening its grip.

This is almost the same situation with Houndoom earlier. I actually know what to do and I'm sure Honchkrow wouldn't mind sharing some evil thoughts. "Dark Pulse, give it your worst," I say with a grin.

I hear a melodic coo from Honchkrow, something along the lines of a chuckle. Her eyes glow black and she looks straight at the magical Pokémon. She lets out a glass-shattering cry and several dark rings emanate from her. The rings extend out towards the magical Pokémon and its trainer and also towards me and Typhlosion.

I've used this attack before and Dark Pulse is energy made from the evil thoughts of the user. The thoughts that Honchkrow has is pretty disturbing, but I've gotten used to them and I'm sure Typhlosion has too. Once the dark energy gets to you, your mind gets filled with these thoughts and they take a while to get rid of. This time it's Honchkrow shredding and tearing Mismagius apart piece by piece, even the image of Honchkrow biting off Mismagius' gems appear. Then Honchkrow skewering the magical Pokémon and continuously pecking at it was the next image. Honchkrow has thought of worst, but for the magical Pokémon across from us, it's definitely not a good thought.

The shadow around Honchkrow retreats into the shadows. Mismagius' shadow returns under it. From this distance I can tell that Mismagius is shocked and terrified by Honchkrow's thoughts. I look at the opposing trainer and his jaws are low and his eyes are wide open. Must be very disturbing.

"Finish with Night Slash," I command.

Honchkrow takes flight and her wings glow a dark violet. She glides quickly across to Mismagius and slashes. Mismagius lets out a dying cry as it floats slowly to the floor. Its eyes are closed and it was defeated. Honchkrow flies back to me and caws victoriously like the big boss Pokémon she is.

"Nice job Honchkrow, but be more evil next time, that was child's play," I say jokingly. Honchkrow looks at me and tilts her hat-like head with her wings. "You can go back to sleep now," I say, pulling out her respective Pokeball. The red light shoots at Honchkrow and takes her back inside the ball.

"R-return," Mismagius' trainer hesitantly says. I can still see the shock in his eyes, even while he congratulates me on the win, "You're strong. You'll do well with us."

"Us?" I ask. It seems like raising my brow is going to be a natural thing now. I look around and find that everyone that was a spectator of the battle move towards me. Typhlosion looks around and grunts, flashing his sharp teeth. I knew that battle had more to it than to just see how well I can battle. "Why does this all seem like it's from some movie?" I mutter to Typhlosion.

I hear someone from behind speak, "So strong and tough. You'd be a great recruit."

Another follows, "_He_ will be happy to know we found a new recruit."

"What is this? Some kind of cult?" I say to no one in particular. I look at the man who I battled and fold my arms. Cocking my head I say, "Can I go now? Or are you guys gonna keep talking about I'll be a great recruit? Not that I don't enjoy the compliment, but I have better things to do."

The man slowly walks towards me, taking his sweet time. "You should join us. We need strong trainers like you," he says with a smirk. I'm guessing the smirk throughout the entire battle was a smirk of happiness and acceptance.

I shake my head. I'm kind of irritated that these guys are wasting my time. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want to join, even if I did, you guys are doing it in an awfully strange way," I say. I turn around and find a large man just inches away from me. "If you'll excuse me," I say as kindly, and sarcastically, as possible.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go," he says roughly. He pushes me back and I hear Typhlosion growl.

I sigh and shake my head. "I really don't have the time for this. Ty, if you could do the honors?" I say. Typhlosion looks at me and nods.

Typhlosion coughs out tons and tons of smoke. The immediate area becomes covered in smoke and I can hear some of the people around me yell a bit about how they can't see. I start running and I know Typhlosion isn't too far behind me. I accidently bump into someone and immediately, and harshly, push them away and continue running.

Once I'm clear of smoke I continue running. I look back and find the cloud of smoke and the people inside it. I lightly chuckle and focus back on running up the stairs. I make it outside and I'm lightly panting, the smoke must have gotten to me. Typhlosion is positions on all fours and is ready to continue moving. The sky is clear blue and the sun is almost directly overhead. It's probably a little before noon and that battle took longer than I expected it to.

I start running along the streets, making sure I don't bump into any other innocent person. I'm sure as I run by, people are wondering why I'm in such a hurry. Aside from trying to get away from those people in the tunnel, because I'm sure they're going to come after me as soon as the smoke clears, I spent too much time down there and the rangers could possibly be here. Last thing I want to happen is to be discovered. If I were to be discovered, I'd rather it be in some isolated area than being in some place where there are tons of people.

I enter and immediately exit a small building that can lead to the Pokéathlon Dome, a rather popular event in Goldenrod now that was built a few years ago, or the National Park. I choose to go straight to National Park, there's really no point for me to go to the Pokéathlon Dome. There's a really nice, calm pond to the side and is guarded by a fence. A few water Pokémon live within the pond and they're pretty passive. I make it to another building, the gate building. Inside this building are just a couple guards and people. Guards will only stop you if you look _really_ suspicious, otherwise, they'll just smile and let you go. Luckily for me, they let me go without any questions.

I make it to the small pathway leading to the famous park. There are benches and lampposts lined up along fences that block Pokémon from idly waltzing onto the path. As I run, and slowly go into a jog, I don't see anyone. In my other times of being to the famous National Park, there are usually tons of people on picnics or just doing some bug-catching. For this place to be empty is like catching a Legendary Pokémon, near impossible and too strange.

Finally slowing down, I walk. I know I shouldn't because I could have tons of people following my trail, but I'm pretty tired from all of that running. I make my way cautiously through the paths until I see the open field of wild bug-type Pokémon and the large fountain that stands gallantly in the middle of the park. I look around and find nobody.

I hear Typhlosion sniff a bit and he snarls. I ask, "Is something there?" I look at him and he nods. "I knew this was too good to be true," I let out. Seriously, all the running for nothing.

There's another building that leads to a couple routes to a couple different towns and cities. I remember that a few years ago the routes were blocked by some tree that turned out to be a Sudowoodo. Luckily for travelers, that incident hasn't happened ever since. I move close to the building, knowing I should be faster, but for some reason my body refuses to move in a quicker pace.

Large silky webs shot in front of me, blocking me from continuing to the building. I turn and find more webs around me. I recognize these webs. These are Ariados webs, really strong, but almost any fire Pokémon can burn them away. Ariados are known for their frowning faces on their abdomen. It's pretty creepy to see, but cool too.

Without being told, Typhlosion burns the webs away with his flaming attacks. The webs light up on flames and burn to crisps. However to take their spots are people in very familiar uniforms and unfamiliar uniforms too. Rangers of every size whether it be tall, short, skinny, chunky, dark, light, male, female a lot of them are here and glaring at me. I don't see any Ariados, so I'm guessing they used their stylers to capture them. The other people were dressed in green and black uniforms with caps to match, these guys are soldiers from the army.

"We've finally found you again," one of the rangers say. This one has a flaming head of hair of brown. He's wearing the standard uniform for rangers back in Fiore, Almia, or Oblivia and he also has a fine styler. If he wipes off the serious look in his eyes and the somewhat angry face he has one, he'd look like a really outgoing guy. He looks like a few years older than me, but I look older than I look so I can't really say much. I may have been a Top Ranger before, but I have never seen this guy in my life. His Pokémon partner, on the other hand, I have seen before, a Buizel.

"Again?" I question quietly. Oh, that's right. Before going to Lavender Town I was in Cerulean, hiding in a cave that's not too far from the city. They almost got me there, but thanks to the barrage of Zubats and Golbats and Dittos that really liked to copy the way I look, I managed to get away. The times before were quick and not even worth mentioning. "Listen, I don't want trouble, but I can't let you guys take me in," I say as nicely as possible.

A tall man wearing a red cowboy hat, white vest and clothes outlined with red steps forward. A Luxray is behind him and growling. "Noxis, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," he says sternly. I'm sure if he wasn't trying to capture me we'd be getting along like good old times and just hang out, though I kind of question his fashion sense. Seriously, he's still going with the cowboy theme?

"You know, you guys gave me that ultimatum before and look what has happened each of those times," I say to them with a shrug. I scan the other rangers and soldiers carefully. There's some Top Rangers missing, but I'm sure they split up and some of them are in Saffron City.

A woman with mint ice cream-colored hair and a pretty face steps forward and stands next to the cowboy. She's wearing normal ranger clothes, but has the same seriousness in her face as her cowboy colleague. A Staraptor flaps its wings above her, hope it doesn't have to go to the bathroom right now. "Noxis, come with us and we can stop this pursuit once and for all. I'm sure you're sick of us chasing after you all around the world," she says.

"You're exaggerating, you guys have only chased me throughout four regions. Fiore, Almia, Kanto, and Johto. Surely, that's not the world," I say jokingly. I try to suppress my smile, but a grin surfaces instead. I'm toying with them, their seriousness is pretty funny.

"This isn't a laughing matter," another female ranger says. Above her is another Staraptor flapping its wings. This ranger has a young face framed by her light brown hair. She has goggles on her forehead and short, yellow scarf around her neck. She must be one of the newer Top Rangers because I've never seen her before.

I fold my arms and sigh. "Listen, what's the point in even capturing me? It's not like it'll do anything or even change anything. You guys only want me so you can put me behind some bars, call it a day, and eat some nice rewarding dinner," I say, still trying to toy around with them, "seriously what's the point in tracking me down just to drag me into some cell? Pretty damn time consuming if you ask me."

"You broke the Ranger Code, you attacked humans. We never attack anyone!" the mint ice cream-colored hair woman says to me with a stern tone. She clenches her fist just to emphasize her point.

"You make it sound like you know the full story," I say with irritation. No one truly knows the story other than Hastings and Typhlosion and I'm pretty sure Hastings altered the story to make me sound like I'm the villain in all of this.

"What?" she says, a little shocked.

"If you honestly think that I purposely wanted to damage my reputation then you're fooling yourself. And isn't it a ranger's duty to protect what needs to be protected? That's what I did," I retort.

"You took it too far though," the cowboy stepped up to say.

I scoff. Rangers may be brave and tough, but they are really naïve. I glare at them critically and say, "And you guys pursuing me and threatening me isn't? You guys have the army with you so they can do your dirty work of attacking me. You guys aren't that much better than I am." I see the shock in each of the rangers. I'm kind of enjoying this.

When I look at the soldiers for their reactions, I see the same shock. I look at one particular soldier, a female with her brown hair tied back and through the cap she wore. She was pretty shocked, but had this face of understanding. Glad to see someone somewhat understands my position in this thing.

I see the cowboy grit his teeth and he exclaims, "Enough of this! You're just stalling!"

"You don't say?" I say with a small chuckle.

The cowboy grits his teeth harder. "Luxray! Take his Typhlosion down!"

"You too Staraptor!" both of the females exclaimed, pointing straight at my Typhlosion.

"You're in too Buizel!" the brown-haired boy says.

"Come on soldiers, time to take the fugitive in!" I hear a soldier command. He waves his hand to the soldiers and points at me. Some male soldiers crack their knuckles with the intent of beating my face in.

The Pokémon and soldiers quickly close the distance between them and myself. I quickly ask Typhlosion, "Think you can take care of the Pokémon Ty?" He nods and growls.

As Typhlosion's electrifying claws make their way for the Staraptors, I wait for the soldiers to attack me. A fist come flying at me and I duck, hearing the collision of two fists above me. I sweep my leg and a few soldiers trip. I stand and grab a hold of a soldier's wrist. Twisting and turning, I used this soldier as my personal shield against the flying kicks and punches that are aimed for me. After I think the soldier took enough damage for me, I throw him and he topples over several of his friends. I get hit in the back of the head by a powerful slap which ruins my composure. When I turn I get hit by a couple of kicks to my thighs and ribs. Another kick flies for my face, I quickly grab the ankle, dragging the unfortunate soldier towards me. I pull quickly and the soldier falls on his back.

The soldiers back off for a quick moment and they resume their assault. A large man goes in for a grapple. Times like these make me glad that I went through the harsh ninja training back in Mahogany Town. When the guy was low enough, I jump high into the and firmly press my feet into his back. He crashes to the ground and I take another jump towards two soldiers. My hands go to the back of one of the soldiers and I force to my knee. Blood smears on my knee and I hear the crack of the soldier's jaw. When I land I quickly elbow the other soldier in the stomach, my hand goes behind his head and I throw him to the ground.

I'm getting pretty tired now, mostly because of all that running before, but I have to keep fighting if I want to get out of here. I would have Typhlosion cough out more smoke, or use one of my smoke bombs, but my friend is occupied with his own problems and there's too many of them to run away from right now. I quickly glance at Typhlosion and he's riding on a screeching Staraptor as he breathes flames the rest of the Pokémon.

A fist flies at me and I dodge just in time. I grab the arm and I find that the arm belongs to the female soldier I saw earlier. We make direct eye contact for a brief moment. She's scared at what I'm about to do, but she's putting on a fighting face. Her eyes are wide and she grits her teeth. Her other fist aims for my face and I duck. I twist her arm, but push her away.

I hear glass shattering at my feet and sparkling mist rises from the glass containers on the ground. The mist is green and has a strange scent. Wait, this.. Shit, it's Sleep Powder. So this is what they've had to resort to. Damn, my eyes are getting heavy and the soldiers and rangers are putting on gasmasks. Of course, they would be prepared.

The mist rises up to Typhlosion and the Staraptors. They fall and hit the ground. I can still do some damage, but my vision is blurring. I feel hands grab my arms and I flail around. I kick and I know must have done some damage when my arms are released. I shake my head, but it doesn't stop the unwanted sleepiness. I punch at blurry figures, but I end up falling to my knees. A foot pushes me over and I feel the powerful punch the knocks me out.


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4

My head is throbbing. My body is sore. I slowly open my eyes and I see blurs. I repeatedly blink to make my vision focus. I realize I'm in a dark room. My hands and ankles are bound together by cold chains. Chains tightly restrict me to a chair. When my vision finally clears, I find that my vest, capture styler, and belt are gone. In front of me are silhouettes of metal bars with a soft light seeping through the gaps. I look to the side and find Typhlosion in a glass container with a muzzle over his mouth and his body chained and bound to the walls of the container. With his heavy breathing I can tell he has tried to escape the container, but it's been futile.

I look to the other side and find a soldier staring at me. From the soft light that hits the soldier's uniform, I can see a thin stature. I groan as I try to move my body which caught the attention of the soldier. They move towards me and say, "Don't try anything funny." The voice was a woman's, light and pretty cute too.

"I don't think I have much of a choice now do I?" I reply with a smirk. I get a look at her face and it's the same soldier that caught my attention while I tried to fight them off. Her lips are full and her eyes are shadowed with light make up. I couldn't see before, but her eyes are a soothing color that is similar to the color of a dawning sky. On closer inspection, her eyes have a feline-like quality.

"Smart ass," I hear her murmur. She takes a few steps away from me.

I hear a purr behind me. The purr could only be from a Pokémon. I can sense the Pokémon walking towards me and into the soft light. A Liepard, a shiny one actually; instead of the usual purple fur that most Liepards have, this one has dark brown and cream. Liepards are sneaks, my kind of Pokémon, and they're pretty elegant too. It moves lithely towards the soldier, making sure to purr.

I put two and two together, saying, "I'm assuming that feline is yours?"

"Yeah, Liepard is a good friend of mine. I've had her ever since she was a Purrloin," her gloved hands gently rub between the Liepard's ears. If I'm not mistaken, I see a small smile form at the edge of her mouth.

"How'd you get her?" I ask. I'm actually, genuinely interested to hear the story since I don't have anything else to do.

She shoots a look at me, and asks, "Why do you want to know?"

"Just making conversation. Silence between two people is pretty dull," I remark, trying to shrug my shoulders, but the chains restrict me from doing that.

She sighed and began her story, "I grew up in Accumula Town, Unova. When I was seven I went into the woods without my parents and a group of Patrats were chasing me. Purrloin came to my rescue, using her cute façade to trick the Patrats just so she can attack them. After beating the Patrats she went back into the trees. I kept going back to the woods just so I can find that Purrloin. For weeks I did this and each of those days I never saw it. Then one night, when my dad was coming home from work he said he found Purrloin in front of our door. It was hurt so my mom decided to take it to the Pokémon center. I followed, of course. After it was nursed back to health by Nurse Joy, it took a liking to me and decided to stay with me. Since then, it's been my friend and partner. My only friend." Before I could ask about the last part of her story, she asked me, "How about you? How'd you get that fireball over there?"

I look at Typhlosion and he gave a grunt. I begin, "I grew up in Mahogany Town, Johto. Back in the days it was known as the home of the ninjas. Over the years it was taken over by Team Rocket, but a trainer came by and helped Lance, the Johto and Kanto Champion, defeat Team Rocket. When I was young, I was trained by some ninjas that still lived in the town."

"Ninjas?" she says, she slightly shook her head in disbelief. "Didn't think ninjas were real."

"Oh we're real. But there's just not as much of us anymore. Just don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I can do any magic or anything, I was just trained on how to use the shadows to my advantage, how to read my opponents, be stronger, be faster, and things like that. Anyways, as I grew up and was trained more and more intensely, I was rewarded with a Pokeball. Inside was Cyndaquil. Since then, he's been my friend. We grew up together and have been friends for so many years," I finish, taking a few deep breaths.

"And how did it get white fur? Don't most Typhlosions have blue?" she asks. From the way she leans forward to listen to me and how her eyes focus on me, I can tell that she's deeply interested.

"That's something I don't want to talk about. Sorry, it's just a personal thing," I say. It is personal and it is traumatizing. Typhlosion doesn't like the story, and I don't either.

She nods and says, "Okay then. How about telling me how you got your other Pokémon? I saw all of those other Pokeballs you have in your pouch. You should have more than just Typhlosion."

"Now, that I can tell you," I say. I hear her giggle lightly. Hmm, didn't think she's the giggling type. I start talking, "With Murkrow, I encountered her in Lyra Forest back in Fiore. I saved it from being attacked by a Honchkrow and it began to follow me everywhere while I was in Fiore. When I was transferred to go to Hoenn, it even flew across the ocean just to get to me. I helped Gligar defend itself against a group of Gligars and Gliscors. I'm pretty sure Gligar was being bullied because for a male Gligar, at the time, it had a smaller stinger. As a Gliscor now, it has a stinger that's larger than most Gliscors. Scyther was abandoned by its former trainer in Saffron City. I adopted it and it agreed to come along with me. Chinchou was won during a fishing competition, she may not be first place material, but she sure knows how to battle. Lastly, Larvitar was stuck in an avalanche on Mount Silver. Since I grew up near the mountains, when it snowed I would snowboard on the mountain. I heard Larvitar's cries and with Quilava's help, we rescued Larvitar. Anything else you want to know?" Throughout the entirety of my quick story, I could see her nodding her head and focusing on me. She smiles a couple times, held her hand to her heart a few, and she even laughs at parts that I didn't even think was funny.

"Actually there is something I want to know," she says with concern.

"And that would be…"

She hesitates to talk, but she finally says what's on her mind, "I haven't been given that much information about you. Just that you're a top wanted by the Ranger Union. But someone like you. I can't really imagine you doing anything bad. So how did you lose your ranger status?"

Someone like me? Guess someone is warming up to me. "Well this story is going to take a while, so make sure you're ready to sit through it," I warn. I take a deep sigh and I see her shifting her position to be more comfortable. Even her Liepard rests close to her and wants to hear the story. "Ready?"

She giggles and says, "Ready." It's strange how just a few minutes ago she was all in my face, but now she's interested in what I say. Then again, I'll never understand how women work.

I take a deep breath and start remembering. Losing my ranger rank is a pretty harsh subject and story, but to hide something like that isn't really worth it. Hell, the story might even make her feel sorry for me. "I was fourteen and appointed as a Top Ranger by Professor Hastings, who's pretty much the head honcho of the rangers. It took me four years of hard work and dedication to become a Top Ranger. Being appointed Top Ranger is a big thing, you're among the best, you take missions that you want to take, and all of those fun perks. Sadly, the first mission I decided to take as a Top Ranger was my last."

"So quick? I'm sure you would've done wonders as a Top Ranger," she compliments. Her sudden niceness is freaking me out now.

I chuckle and with a smile I say, "Yeah, maybe. But I'll never get the chance now. Anyways, my mission was on an isolated island a good few miles away from the Oblivia region. I was informed that a mother Pokémon and its child were being attacked by poachers and so—"

Interrupting me was the static voice that came from one of her radios. It exclaimed, "We have level five intruders! All units secure the area!"

My temporary listener had a very displeased look on her face, she wanted to hear the interesting part of my story but she won't get the chance. "Sorry, I have to go," she stands and immediately moves the bar door.

"What's your name?" I ask her. Throughout the entirety of our conversations, I didn't even know.

"Why? You're not going to see me again," she comments with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"It'd just be nice to know the name of the woman who listened," I say, trying to shrug again. Damn chains.

She laughs lightly and opens the door. The Liepard squeezes its way between two bars and is ready to follow its trainer. "My name is Diei. If you ever see me again just call me Dee," she replies and leaves before the conversation could continue.

And here I am, tied up and there's some action going on within this place. If only, I could see, or at least know, what's happening. Who are these intruders? And why this place? If I'm running on guesses, I'd have to guess that I'm in some jail cell. I'm most likely still inside Goldenrod, if they transported I probably would've woken up earlier.

"Hey Ty, you getting tired?" I say looking over at the volcano Pokémon.

He was sitting, restricted and irritated. He snarls and the small flame hits the muzzle. Typhlosion is a pretty patient Pokémon, but when he's in a confined space he becomes irritable. Hell, when he's even bound to something he's irritable. The guy loves his free space.

It feels like I've been tied up here for hours, even though it's probably only minutes. Somewhere in this facility there are infiltrators, for who knows what the reason is, and the army people here are stirred up. I really want to get out of here, but with how tight these chains are, I doubt I'll be getting out any time soon.

I hear footsteps echo down the hallway. Some yells and whispers travel with the footsteps. Then I hear a roar with an agonizing scream follow it. Shadows began to creep near the bars of the cell. Several of the shadows belong to humans, a long one belongs to a Pokémon. If my memory suits me correct, the long shadow looks like a Dragonair.

Silhouettes appear before my cell, I can't exactly distinguish the people, but I'm guessing their allies. One of them unlocks the door of my cell and quickly moves towards me. This guy has a flaming head of hair of crimson color, he's dressed in dark colors, and has a long, wavy cape. He moves behind me and I can hear him unlocking the chains. A Dragonair slithers into my cell and moves to Typhlosion's container. Dragonair knocks it over and the top of the container flips open. Dragonair bites off Typhlosion's muzzle and Typhlosion burns the chains off himself.

Flaming hair, cape, dragon-type Pokémon? Either this guy is who I think he is or he's just some amazing double. Before I can even ask about the identification of this person, he says, "Finally found you, right after I unlock you, get your things ready and hurry and move out. We have to get out of here in five minutes, the place will blow."

"So extreme," I say, trying to gather the quick rush of information in my head. My body is relieved of the chains and one of the other men move to me. He had my vest, capture styler, belt, and chains on him. I quickly equip them and say, "What's next, Lance?"

"So you figured who I am," he replies, I see a smile that also shows his sharpened fangs that resembles a dragon tooth. "Follow me, we'll be out of here as soon as possible," he orders. He runs ahead with the other people that followed him here ahead of him.

"Come on Ty," I say and begin running with the volcano Pokémon quickly following behind.

So Lance, the Champion of the Indigo League and Dragon Master, came to save me. Quite an honor, since not many people have met Lance. Lance has been known to always be someone who works with secret missions and is always an agent. In the past, he's always been known as someone who has helped people for the greater good and risks himself just so he can help. He's practically the embodiment of justice. It's fitting for him.

I follow Lance down long hallways that seem to never end. Echoes of yells and roars continue to travel to my ears. I get a good look at the people who increasingly join me and Lance. They're all of different clothing, sizes, gender, and personalities. Honestly, they look like regular people to me. If this is some group that's to rescue me, they should at least have something that matches. Then again, they'd probably look like some Team Rocket or Go-Rock Squad wannabes.

Somehow throughout the craze, more people have added themselves onto the group. We manage to make it outside, it's dark and I can see the moon reflecting off of the dark, waving ocean, and I see many of them pulling out their Pokeballs. Flying-type Pokémon, that range from Pidgeots to Tropius to Unfezants, emerge from the white light. The flying-type Pokémon grab a hold of their trainers and fly off.

Right when I was about to reach into my pouch to get Honchkrow, I hear Lance tell me, "I got our ride." He whistles a five-pitched tune and I hear a melodic roar in the air. Quickly flying to us is a Dragonite, a Pokémon that looks gentle and passive, but can be pretty destructive if needed. This Dragonite isn't like the others, this Dragonite is _Lance's_ Dragonite. Lance climbs onto his Dragonite's back and tells me, "Hurry and get on."

I comply and jump onto the dragon Pokémon. Dragonite quickly flies away at an alarming speed. Even the trainers that flew off before Lance and I did were beaten by the speed of the Dragonite. I hear the loud boom and look back to find a flare glowing within smoke and a building beginning to tumble down. I look around the smoke and building to find faint lights in the distance. I'm assuming that the lights belong to Goldenrod City.

"So where are we flying to?" I ask. I'm hoping my grip on Dragonite doesn't slip.

"We're flying to the Seafoam Islands. The rest will be branching throughout the Johto region," Lance replied, his tone his serious and low. His hair flutters violently in my face

"Seafoam Islands? Why there? And why just us?" I ask. I'm trying to understand why the Dragon Master rescued me and why he's taking me to the Seafoam Islands. Alright, what exactly is he going to do?

"Noxis, the ranger who followed his heart rather than authority. Stripped of his rank because he chose to do what was right rather than doing what was authorized. The Pokémon Association knows who you are, us Champions know who you are. You may think that you're not known, but you are quite popular among the Pokémon Association. We've been trying to contact you, but you move around so much, it's never easy," he explains.

"I'm assuming those people in the Goldenrod tunnel are part of whatever organization you're a part of?" I say.

"Yes, although they did approach you rather strangely," Lance replied.

"Alright," I let out, "so, why exactly does the Pokémon Association want me? And why are we going to the Seafoam Islands?"

"The Pokémon Association appointed each Pokémon Champion in each region to organize a resistance group against the army and Ranger Union," Lance began.

I quickly question, "Against the army and Ranger Union? What I'm getting at is that you guys are gonna go to war."

I see him nod and reply, "In a sense, yes we are. And you're the only person that we have recent records of, that has capabilities, history, and heart to do what's right."

"Could you guys get some Gym Leaders or Elite Four or something? I'm sure they'd do a better job than me," I reply. The last thing I want is to be in some war.

"The Elite Four and Gym Leaders are among our resistance. They act as the defenders of their respective regions. However, some of them travel around and help out too. We even have Agatha and Lorelei, former Elite Four members of the Indigo League, helping us too," he says. From the grin I can see, I'm guessing he's proud of getting the former members of the Elite Four to help.

Lorelei, Ice Master. She passed her position as Elite Four to go back to her hometown, Floe Island, to protect the people there from any threats. She's known to be calculative and highly intelligent. I've seen her on television to and she's one good looking woman.

Agatha, Ghost Master. She also passed her position as Elite Four. Some say it's because she's aging and wanted to retire, others say she actually did die. No one knows exactly why she left, but if she's back in action then it has to be for a good reason. People are even saying that her and Sinnoh Elite Four member, Bertha, are related somehow because they look similar.

"That still doesn't really explain why you guys want me. If you guys have Agatha and Lorelei, other Champions, and all of these amazing trainers, why me?" I ask.

"Like I said, you're the only one that we have recent records of," he replies.

"What do you mean, 'only one'?"

"There have been several trainers in the past that have risen to Champion status, but chose to go on new journeys. I've encountered a few of them myself, but have failed to locate them. The other Champions have met some of these trainers and haven't seen them since. We would also ask some Top Rangers to help us, but as you know, they're on the opposing side. So you're the only one that we have," he explains.

"Glad to know I'm a backup for people you couldn't find," I say. I'm not really surprised I'm a last resort, considering who I am.

Lance shakes his head and replies with a gentle, sympathetic tone that kind of scares me, "You're not a backup. You're someone that is a great asset for the resistance."

"Right," I say sarcastically. "So what exactly are you guys resisting against?"

"The army, backed by the Ranger Union, is using Pokémon for warfare. In short, they're trying to make all trainers train their Pokémon as weapons. They're trying to get people to enlist into the army with their Pokémon so their Pokémon will become weapons. We're trying to resist that because Pokémon shouldn't be used as weapons because they're living creatures that bond with us. They're our friends, our family. For them to try to get us to use our Pokémon in such a dangerous way. It's horrible," he says. From the way he shakes his head to the bitter tone he has, I can tell he's truly passionate on saving Pokémon from becoming weapons.

Now I can see why they were looking for me. My history of saving Pokémon as a ranger, and my supposedly well-known mission that ruined my career as a ranger. All of that simply says that I fight for what's right and do what I think is right. My ideals are what they want.

"That's pretty bad," I let out, "and why are we going to the Seafoam Islands?"

"Blaine, the Gym Leader and renown scientist, has been researching the Dark Stone," he says.

"Dark Stone? Isn't that part of some myth in the Unova region?" I ask. Aside from Johto mythology of Ho-oh, the legendary beasts, and Brass Tower, I know little to nothing about mythology in the other regions.

Lance nods, replying, "In a way, yes. Do you know about the mythology there?"

"Not really," I answer.

"Before Unova was created, there were heroic twin brothers who had a single dragon Pokémon. The older brother sought out truth, the younger sought out ideals. Because of the difference between them, they began to argue and fight. In response to the tension between the brothers, the dragon Pokémon split into two, Reshiram and Zekrom. Reshiram sided with the older brother as Zekrom sided with the younger. The dragon Pokémon battled and fought each other, but neither of them could beat the other. The brothers eventually realized that no side was correct and set aside their differences. However, their sons fought each other and Reshiram and Zekrom destroyed the region. Reshiram and Zekrom disappeared in the aftermath, but many have been saying that they were transformed into stones. Which is why we have the Light and Dark Stones."

"And what does the Dark Stone have to do with all of this?" I ask him.

"Blaine has been trying to awaken the Pokémon inside the stone, but there hasn't been any luck. So he requested that several dragon trainers go to his lab and see if we can awaken it," he answers.

"These dragon trainers consist of..."

"Myself, my cousin Clair, Drake from Hoenn, and Drayden and Iris from Unova. Blaine believes that only dragon trainers can awaken the power and Pokémon of the stone," he says.

"Well, let's hope we get there as soon as possible."

**Author's Note: **To any of my readers, thank you by the way for reading my story, I'll be accepting OCs for my story. Reason for this is because I want to somehow get my readers involved with the story. Of course not all OCs will make a huge impact on the story, but they will be in the story from time to time. It's also possible that if I take a personal liking to your character, they'll be in the story a lot more. The more details and information you provide, the better I can write your character. So if you would like your OC in the story, please fill out the form I'll provide below and PM it to me. Thanks! =]

**Name: **

**Age: **

**Description: **

**Personality: **

**Type: **(Trainer, Ranger, Coordinator, etc.)

**History: **

**Goals: **

**Pokémon: **(Please include any specific details such as being a favorite for your character, certain moves the Pokémon likes to use, personality, and things of the sort.)


	5. Chapter 5

-Chapter 5

Must be convenient to have such a fast, flying Pokémon like a Dragonite. It probably took us half an hour to travel across Johto, across the dark ocean, and to fly high above the Seafoam Islands. The dark tides of the ocean wash up on the powdery sand of the islands. Dots of light glow brightly within the darkness. Dragonite slowly descends towards the top of a rocky hill. I can see dust clouds fly away from the spot Dragonite began to descend upon with each flap of its wings.

I hop off of Dragonite with Typhlosion following after me. I kinda forgot that he was holding onto me during the whole ride, but as long as he survived, I'm relieved. When Lance jumps off he waves Dragonite away and the dragon Pokémon speeds off into the air like a bullet.

"So now what?" I ask, folding my arms. I don't see an entrance in sight. If Lance didn't tell me what we were doing here, I'd think he would have some ambush or whatever and kill me.

"Just wait for it," Lance replies. He crosses his arms and looks at the dark horizon.

The floor begins to tremble and I can feel the gears and mechanics causing the floor to descend. As the floor descends further down, I see a trail of green light run down the walls. Typhlosion looks around and snarls, I don't think he amused by the technology. Lance stands indifferent and waits for the floor to finally reach its destination.

The floor finally reaches its destination and a wall slides open. Lance leads me and Typhlosion through the entrance and I find myself in a room that has a hue of blue. The room is large and equipped with desks, shiny tiles and fluorescent lights. A waft of cleanliness haunts my senses. I find scientists running around, plenty of test tubes and containers, Pokémon assisting the scientists, and people exchanging hasty words that I can quite comprehend.

"You're finally here Lance," I hear a feminine voice say. When I look at Lance I find him giving a woman with long, aqua hair a friendly handshake.

Clair, the Blackthorne Gym Leader and Lance's cousin. She dresses in a similar fashion to Lance with the cape and all. She's widely believed to be blessed because she is in a long line of dragon trainers. I've heard that she's overly confident in her abilities and she thinks she's the best dragon trainer out there, although she has been bested by several which include her cousin, Lance.

"Sorry, I had to make a detour Clair, are the others here?" Lance asks.

Clair shakes her head and replies in a serious tone, "Unfortunately Iris and Drayden won't make it tonight, but they'll be here first thing in the morning. Drake reported that he has almost made it here. We'll have to wait tomorrow."

"That is unfortunate, but we have to be careful. Are any of the other Champions here?" Lance asks.

"Only Cynthia with a surprise guest, the others will be here later tonight," Clair replies, "Volkner, Jasmine, Whitney, Skyla, and Brawly are also here, but they're currently in their rooms."

Lance sighs and says, "I'll go see Cynthia right now. Can you show Noxis to his room?"

Clair quickly glances at me and nods, "Yeah. You should hurry, Cynthia has been waiting for you for hours now."

Lance nods and turns to me, "I'll see you later Noxis. Don't get into trouble." He quickly removes himself from my sight.

"Follow me," Clair orders and she begins to move.

Of course I would follow her, since I don't even know where in the Hell I am. Clair leads me through the room, dodging scientists and Pokémon. She makes a few remarks of the facility we're in, but I'm not really paying any attention. Really, I'm just wondering what's going to happen to me.

We enter a hallway covered with doors. She leads me to the dark end of the hall and a door slides open. I enter and I find the room to be plain, but pleasant. A simple bed, a desk with a chair, a television, and a shelf. A nice pair of clothes were folded and placed at the center of the bed. There's another door that I'm pretty sure leads into a bathroom.

"Here you go," Clair says to me, "you know I've heard a lot about you."

Am I really that well-known? "Oh? From the Association I'm assuming?" I say as I turn to look at her.

Clair shakes her head and replies, "Actually, from Lance. Ever since he looked into your records and history, he's told me about you. Cynthia is pretty interested in you too."

"And yourself?" I ask.

"Me? You're just another face and trainer to me. Unless you can prove your worth, my view on you won't change," she replies coldly, but honestly.

I lightly chuckle, it's a relief to hear that I'm not that well received by someone. "Glad to hear it."

"I'll see you when I see you, don't get comfortable here," she says before she leaves. The door slides to a close and I'm left in the room with Typhlosion.

Typhlosion quickly makes a resting spot between the bed and the shelf. I undo my belt and set it on the desk. I relieve myself of my vest and hang it on the chair. I move over to the bed, kick off my shoes, and grab a hold of the pair of clothes. The shirt and pants are black and soft, but I toss them aside and I plump myself onto the bed.

I hear the door slide open and I see an unexpected visitor. "Noxis," I hear the man in the blue jacket say to me. I sit up and find the electric-type Pokémon Gym Leader, Volkner standing in the doorway.

"Volkner. Fancy meeting you here," I say. Honestly, Volkner is one of the few gym leaders that I actually admire, but mostly it's because all of the girls I know are in "love" with him and it made me kind of jealous.

Volkner, the electric gym leader of Sunyshore City. He's often dissatisfied with the lack of intensity and passion of his Pokémon battles to the point that he just gives his badges away. Out of his own boredom, he's revamped his entire gym several times and has caused many blackouts in the city. Honesty, it's pretty funny that he's caused blackouts in his own city.

Volkner steps into my room, pulls out the chair, and sits down. He leans forward, places his elbows on his knees, and his chin rests on his hands. "I've been wanting to meet you for some time now," he says. There's some tone in his voice that hints intrigue, but has that aftertaste of his lingering boredom that he's known for.

"Oh really? Why would someone like you want to meet some thug like me?" I ask.

Volkner grins and says, "Like you don't know about your own history. But what intrigues me the most is how you've managed to survive all these years while being on the run."

"Well you learn to adapt in these kinds of situations, nothing to it," I say dismissively and with a shrug of my shoulders.

"True," he says, grinning, "I'm sure you know of my boredom with the lack of entertaining battles at my gym."

"Yeah, you're widely known for it and causing blackouts in Sunyshore," I reply, trying to figure what he's trying to get at.

I should have seen his proposal as soon as he entered the room, "Well, I'm here to challenge you to a battle."

"Now?"

He shakes his head, replying, "No, in the morning. It's sudden, but I just wanted to hear your answer. If you refuse, I'll be fine with that and I won't bother you again."

"Nah, I accept," I say.

He laughs and stands up. "Great, I'll see you bright and early in the morning. Meet me at the beach at eight, that'll be a great spot to battle," he says as he pushes the chair back into its original place. He begins to walk to the door, before he leaves he places two fingers to his temple and motions it away. "Until then, rest up."

"You too," I say and I watch him leave my room.

I lie back down and look to the side. I find Typhlosion trying to sleep, but his eyes are still open. I look at the ceiling and start reviewing about the recent events. Having Lance rescue me and taking me all the way here, to the Islands, and meeting both Clair and Volkner. Things have taken a strange turn for me, but I won't complain. At least I know that I'll be safe for a few days, hopefully. My mind begins to drift and my eyes start feeling heavy. The next thing I know, I start sleeping.

Dreams. What dreams? Everything I see in my sleep are nightmares. Even if a Darkrai were to attack me in my sleep, it wouldn't do much because I sleep with nightmares haunting me. I highly doubt even a Cresselia would help me sleep pleasantly.

When my eyes finally open I find the room to be unchanged. I groan as I sit up. My hand goes to my forehead and I wipe the sheet of sweat off of me. Typhlosion has his tired eyes open and his breathing is pretty rough, but he can still manage the day. I move to the side of the bed and slowly work my legs up to a stand. A yawn comes with a stretch of my entire body. I check the time on my capture styler and it's flashing 7:03am. Gives me enough time to prep myself for the day, as if I really have anything to do other than the battle with Volkner.

Typhlosion remains still as I shuffle my way into the bathroom. The bathroom is small and tiled with dark stones. A counter holds the sink, toothbrush, and toothpaste with the mirror covering the entire wall above the counter. On the opposite side is the shower stall. I lazily shed off my clothes and move into the shower stall and turn on the water by utilizing the knob. Conveniently, the water is pretty warm when it starts up.

For some reason my mind starts thinking about the stories Dee and I traded last night. I'm still wondering why she was so quick to warm up to me, well from what I could tell at the time. Suddenly other thoughts come to mind like how aggressive she was while fighting me, how nice her eyes looks, how she giggles, how lithely she moves, how her curves compliments her full figure…damn, what's wrong with me? I'm fantasizing about a girl I hardly even know. Then again, a guy could only imagine what a beautiful looking girl like her could look right?

I shake my head and notice that I've been in the shower for a long time now. I shut off the water and open the stall door, finding blankets of mist floating about. I dry myself off and put my clothes back on. I take a few minutes to brush my teeth and I exit the bathroom. Once I open the door and emerge back into the room, I can feel the heat of the bathroom trailing behind me.

I check the time again and the capture styler flashes 7:48am. I equip my vest and shoes as I say, "Come on Ty." Typhlosion slowly stands up and moves over to me. We exit the room and I travel down the hall.

I'm not exactly sure how to get out of this place, and I don't really want to bother anyone so I just keep to myself. I return to the room filled with scientists and Pokémon and I find that it hasn't changed over the night. Even in the early hours of the morning, the scientists are working hard. I look over the area of the room and I find a few people of interest. One is Brawly, the fighting gym leader in Hoenn, he's a well-known surfer; he's leaning against a desk without a shirt on and his arm is wrapped around a surfboard, I'm assuming he just got back from surfing. Another is Skyla, the foxy flying gym leader, I don't know what it is about her, but she is really attractive, though I highly doubt she'll go far a lowlife like myself.

I also see a guy dressed in white with a white and black cap covering the top portion of his flowing black hair. His face would look a lot younger if the massive scars on his face weren't there, kind of makes me wonder how he got those scars. His dark purple eyes sparkle like jewels as he watches scientists working. Something about him just makes me think about myself and my history. I may have to ask Lance just who this guy is.

As I walk and observe I accidently feel a bump against my shoulder and hear a thud followed with a, "Ah!" I look down and find a young girl on the ground and rubbing her hip. She has curly, bright red hair that strangely compliments the light brown eyes she's staring at me with. Under her eyes are freckles that are slightly hidden by her light tan.

"Sorry," I say to her. I offer my hand to her.

She grabs my hand and squeezes tightly and I feel a sharp shocking sensation pulse in my palm. I quickly pull her up and retreat my hand, wondering what it was that sent the shock through my hand.

I see her smile and position her hand near her face. In her palm was a hand buzzer, I haven't seen those since I was young. I look to Typhlosion and he's not amused. "Sorry, I just had to do it!" she said with a giggle. She suddenly takes notice of who I am, "Hey, you're Noxis huh?"

"Yeah," I reply with a brow arched.

"Oh wow, what are you doing here?" she asks. She slides her hand in her pocket and puts the buzzer deep into her pocket.

I'm starting to question why I'm here myself. "I was on my way to the beach to battle Volkner and—"

She quickly cuts me off and grabs my wrist, saying, "Oh! I'll take you there, I know the way." She half drags and half directs me through the room and through several hallways.

As she's dragging me, I find out her name is Candence, but she prefers Andy. Her best friend is an Arcanine that I have yet to see and she's been travelling with him since she was fourteen and since her Arcanine was a Growlithe. She has two other Pokémon, but she didn't tell me which because she wants to keep it a "surprise". She started her adventure in Olivine, where she grew up, and was openly willing to join the Resistance when she was asked by Jasmine, the steel gym leader of Olivine City.

Somehow, we emerge out of the giant facility which is masqueraded as a giant mountain or volcano; I can't really pinpoint which it is. I can see a city landscape with tall trees when I look at the far ends at the sides of the facility. The facility faces the sandy beach and glittering waters that runs along the horizon. I can see several surfers in the water and joggers peacefully running on the sand. Not too far from where Andy and I were standing, I see Volkner and Jasmine sitting on the beach and facing the ocean. Jasmine is in her dress that I usually see her in from television interviews or photos. Volkner was in a black shirt and I find his blue jacket under both of the gym leaders' bodies.

Jasmine, the steel gym leader of Olivine City. A few years ago, several trainers couldn't find her in her gym because she was nesting in the lighthouse to take care of a sick Ampharos. Although initially shy, she's very passionate about helping others which is why she was aiding the Ampharos in the first place. From rumors, I heard that a trainer, who eventually won the Indigo League, helped Jasmine and the Ampharos.

"Jasmine!" Andy says singsong. She runs, although she almost trips at the initial start of her feet moving, towards Jasmine and Volkner.

Jasmine and Volkner turns their heads. Jasmine smiles, stands, and says, "Hi there Andy, what brings you here today?"

Andy stops right before Jasmine, but almost crashes into the steel gym leader. "Oh, I was just bringing Noxis here! Volkner and him are going to battle."

"They're going to battle?" Jasmine questioned. I exchange a quick glance with her.

I slowly walk towards the Volkner and I hear him say, "Glad to see you didn't forget."

"It's not every day that I get to battle the Sunyshore leader," I say.

Volkner reaches behind his body and retrieves a Pokeball from his belt. "Ready?" he asks with a grin. I'm guessing he's really excited about this battle; though I'm not exactly sure why.

I take a good few steps to distance myself away from Volkner, Andy, and Jasmine. To my left is the ocean and to my right is the beach and upcoming spectators. I reach into my pouch and take out a Pokeball. "Let's get this started," I say.

"Pachirisu, you're up!" the electric gym leader says, throwing the Pokeball against the sand.

The bright light flashes and reveals a small, light blue squirrel that is Pachirisu. Why is it that so many electric Pokémon are small rodents and are often adored by women, little girls, and just females in general? Whatever the case, I'm really tired of seeing them and I'm hoping that other regions have more badass looking electric types.

I toss the Pokeball and the Pokémon emerging is my friend, Scizor. The red insect stretches and looks back at me. "It's been too long since you've battle, huh Scizor?" I see Pokémon give me a quick nod and he steps towards the Pachirisu.

Scizor, just like the rest of my team, doesn't really need me to instruct him in what to do, but he doesn't mind taking some orders. Scizor is literally the ninja of my team. He's quick, tricky, and attacks at critical moments. Thanks to his part steel type, his entire exoskeleton has extra defense, and has a nice shine to it.

"Thunder Wave," Volkner commanded.

Pachirisu emits blue electricity from its cheeks. The electric fingers are rapidly traveling towards Scizor, but I can't let them touch him.

"Agility and Double Team," I say.

Scizor moves at an extremely fast speed and leaves behind images of him; which are meant to confuse his opponent. The blue fingers jolt through Scizor's images. Scizor makes his way around Pachirisu and decides to do an attack without an order. His pincers glow and he punches Pachirisu. Pachirisu gains air for a bit and slides into the sand. The elesquirrel Pokémon quickly stands up and lets at a small cry.

"Quickly Pachirisu, Spark and Hyper Fang," Volkner commanded. I see a grin form at the edge of his lips.

Electricity surrounds the elesquirrel Pokémon. Pachirisu quickly dashes towards Scizor revealing its shining fangs with electric lines surrounding it. The elesquirrel Pokémon clung onto Scizor's chest and bit him. Scizor winces his eyes and grabs the elesquirrel with his pincers. Pachirisu wriggles around in Scizor's clutches, but the pincer Pokémon proved to be far stronger, physically. Scizor's head glows brightly and he headbutts Pachirisu.

Like I said, my Pokémon generally don't need me to tell them what to do because they know what to do. My eyes watch Scizor drop the fainted Pachirisu onto the soft sand. Scizor slowly walks back to me while one of its pincers rubs against the area where he was bitten. "Good work Scizor, you wanna rest?" I ask. He nods and I take out the Pokeball and the red light sucks him back in.

Volkner's Pokeball takes back Pachirisu, but he quickly takes out another Pokeball and reveals a Luxray. "This is great Noxis, keep surprising me," Volkner says with a wide grin.

I could quickly finish this battle with just Gliscor, but that'll be no joy for the gym leader over there. I'll even admit that I'm starting to enjoy this recreational battle, so why not try to prolong it? My hand reaches into the pouch and I finally retrieve my next Pokémon. I throw the Pokeball towards the ocean next to us.

"Lanturn, you're up," I say as the light Pokémon quickly dives into the water and resurfaces.

"A Lanturn?" Volkner says with a raise of his brow. "Let's make this a little more interesting." He reaches for the Luxray's Pokeball and speaks before the red light absorbs the gleam eyes Pokémon, "Sorry Luxray, but you'll get another chance soon." He replaces Luxray's Pokeball with another and throws it towards the ocean.

A Lanturn is revealed, and, from a distance, it honestly looks like my Laturn is staring at a mirror image. The biggest difference between my Lanturn from Volkner's is that mine is the Lanturn is scarred under its yellow "mask" and at the base of its tail.

"I'm guessing you want to see which Lanturn is best?" I say with intrigue in my voice.

"Of course," he says. "Signal Beam!"

The yellow bulb of Volkner's Lanturn's antennae becomes a light green. A colorful beam shoots from the bulb and aims for my Lanturn. She dodges by diving under the water.

I'm not sure if she can really hear me under there, but I bark out my orders louder than I normally would, "Aqua Ring." Lanturn jumps into the air and is surrounded by a mystical, rainbow veil of water. I know Volkner's Lanturn is resistant to electric attacks, and I'm assuming Volkner knows the same with mine.

Somehow, Volkner and I command our Lanturns in unison, "Ice Beam."

The Lanturns face each other and a beam of light blue ice projects from their mouths. The beams collide at midway leaving a large patch of ice between the two light Pokémon. Volkner's Lanturn hops onto the patch of ice and continues its assault of Ice Beam on my Lanturn. My Lanturn dives under water, but even under water the Ice Beam can freeze her solid.

My Lanturn is smart enough to continue dodging by swimming under the water, but I don't think she wants to continue dodging. "Take Down," I order. My Lanturn rises from the water behind Volkner's Lanturn and prepares to tackle her opponent.

Before my Lanturn could finish her attack I hear Volkner command, "Toxic."

Shit, this isn't good. Toxic may be weak at first, but the venomous liquid worsens as time passes. When my Lanturn collides with Volkner's, his Lanturn turns around after taking in the damage and sprays my Lanturn with purple liquid. Although the veil of water refreshes my Lanturn's body, the poison damage kicks in to undo the health restoration.

"Smart play Noxis," I hear Volkner compliment me.

I look over to the gym leader and find him grinning. "Back at you," I say. He did time that Toxic attack really well.

Once again, our Lanturns are facing each other in the water. The ice divider is a minor obstacle that could be destroyed with a simple Signal Beam or even just a Bubble Beam. I can tell that both of the Lanturns are getting tired, but they're both willing to battle.

"Façade," I say to Lanturn. Very rarely do I ever use Façade, but when I have the opportunity, why not? A purple glow surrounds my Lanturn and she begins to dash towards her opponent.

"Giga Impact!" I hear Volkner say. His Lanturn's entire body glows brightly and dashes towards my Lanturn.

When the two light Pokémon collide, they're both launched into the air, heavily damaged. They both plop into the water, but they resurface, albeit tired. I'm not entirely sure what to do, Aqua Ring is helping Laturn sustain himself for battle, but the effect of Toxic is worsening with each passing attack.

"Hydro Pump," I hear Volkner gently say to his Lanturn. He knows that my Lanturn can take any more attacks and something like Hydro Pump, although it wouldn't normally do too much damage to my Lanturn, could finish off my Lanturn.

"Hyper Beam," I order. If Volkner is going to finish my Lanturn, then I'm taking his Lanturn down with me.

Volkner's Lanturn jumps into the air and releases a powerful stream of water at my Lanturn. My Lanturn shoots out a white beam of pure energy from her mouth. The Hyper Beam and Hydro Pump collide and a powerful wave of energy launches both Lanturns away from each other. When I look carefully both Lanturns are knocked out, meaning that Volkner's Lanturn and mine are equally matched.

The red lights absorb our respective Lanturns. "Impressive, I've never had a battle where both Pokémon are knocked out at the same time," he says with a hearty chuckle.

Before both of us could call in our next Pokémon, I hear an ecstatic voice yell at us, "Hey!" When I look over I see Whitney near the sand of the beach, but she was close to the facility. "Jasmine, Volkner! It's an emergency, we need you guys in the meeting room right now!" She runs back into the entrance of the facility before any of us could react to her urgency.

Whitney, normal gym leader of Goldenrod City. She's one of the youngest gym leaders in the entire world and she's notorious for her Clefairy design of her gym. I've never battled her myself, but I heard that when she first started, she would cry and refuse to give her challengers her badge. I'm sure that she has grown up over the years, I hope.

"Sorry Noxis, we'll have to finish our battle later," Volkner says. He grabs his jacket and runs off, following Whitney's trail.

Before Jasmine follows Volkner, she turns to me, bows and says, "It was nice to meet you Noxis." Andy follows Jasmine as well, leaving myself and Typhlosion on the beach.

I'm a little curious of what's happening, but if they don't need me, then they don't need me. "Come on Ty, let's go back to our room, we need to let Lanturn and Scizor rest," I say. I took a single step and I can hear a melodic cry come from the ocean.

My hand reaches into one of my vest pockets and I take out an item that only a few have. I feel it vibrate as I watch it glitter brightly in the sun. The Silver Feather.

**Author's Note: **I'm still accepting OCs, so if you would like a character of yours in, please PM me. The form is in Chapter 4, at the end. And to the people who have their OCs in, thank you for submitting. If I happen to write your character wrong, or not the way you wanted to, please let me know! And don't worry if your character isn't in this chapter, they'll be in future ones to come. Thanks! =]


	6. Chapter 6

-Chapter 6

The Silver Wing. An item that only such a few have seen and only such a handful of people possess. Just the very vibrations that the feathers have remind me of the time when I followed my heart rather than my superiors. The sparkle of the feather was similar to that of silver in the light. The light weight of the feather made it feel as if I held nothing. The feather itself is a connection of the Legendary Pokémon, Lugia.

How did I come to possess such a valuable item? The smaller details are a little hazy, but I can still remember the event clearly. Well, I was fourteen. A newly appointed Top Ranger. I was going to the destination of my mission, the Whirl Islands.

"Down there Staraptor," I say, pointing to a large island surrounded with large whirlpools. Thanks to the roaming amount of Staraptors in the Almia region, this Staraptor was pretty easy to befriend. Luckily, this Staraptor doesn't mind flying me all the way to the Whirl Islands in the Johto Region; and since I've had to fly over several oceans and regions myself, my arm has grown to get used to being carried by a flying Pokémon.

My partner Pokémon, Quilava, tightly wrapped around my neck and was staring at the ocean below. I'm sure he's terrified of letting go and plummeting into the ocean. Following behind the Staraptor was a Skarmory and Drifblim, Pokémon I was able to befriend while flying, and a Murkrow, this Murkrow has been following me ever since I helped her in the Lyra Forest back in Fiore. Conveniently sitting on top of the Staraptor are Nuzleaf and Aipom, I befriended them just before I asked Staraptor to give me a ride.

From above, the island I'm going to is extremely large and surrounded by whirlpools. The entrance of the cave is extremely tall and matches the height of city buildings. Water rises onto the stone floor with each crash of the waves. The island is impossible to get to by ship, and only a few water Pokémon could probably fit between the spikes that rise out of the water or even get through the whirlpools.

Hovercrafts were in the air and I see the army logo inked into the metal. The hovercrafts surround the island and I can see the large firearms equipped to the bottom of the hovercrafts. They were shooting and the symphony of bullets were chaotic. The Pokémon roared loudly and let out a powerful beam of energy that caused a couple of hovercrafts to catch on fire and begin a spiraling descent towards the water.

Staraptor began to descend and I can see the Pokémon that is gaining the attention of the hovercrafts. Staraptor releases my arm when it's low enough to ensure my safety. My shoes land firmly on the wet stones that lead into the depths of the cave. On closer inspection, the dark teal stone floor has several dips that can cause someone to trip easily. There's a light whistle that came from the cave with a breezy wind following it.

"Thanks Staraptor," I say as it caws and flies away.

My eyes are set on the large Pokémon in front of me. It's injured, blood runs down its long neck and wings. The flat spikes on its back were leaking with blood too. Lugia, the Legendary diving Pokémon, is twitching and wincing in pain. It was protecting a smaller Lugia with its body. I can see the smaller Lugia watching in fear as its mother was blasting hovercrafts out of the air.

This is too much. I know the army has taken extremes, but for them to attack a Pokémon like this? This is horrible. When I was told what this mission was I thought the Pokémon was causing havoc, but from what I can tell, the army is causing the Pokémon pain. What exactly are they planning on doing if they kill this Lugia?

"Please help," I hear a faint voice speak to me within my head. I look around and find no one, but the team of Pokémon I have befriended. "Please help, please help my mommy." Just those words I realize that the Pokémon talking to me, is the child of the Lugia blasting the hovercrafts.

I make direct eye contact with the Lugia and it gives me a teary sniff. The mother Lugia's blood stains its child's head. The mother…is dying. She's using every ounce of her strength to protect her child from any harm.

I look up and I find several cables drop out of the hovercrafts with soldiers quickly sliding their way down onto the stone floor. I turn to look at the soldiers, they're all equipped with firearms.

The leading soldier, hinted by the several pins on his chest and regal hat, orders, "You, sonny, shouldn't be here. Go home and let the grown-ups take care of the situation." His tone was deep and fit for a leader, but I don't like the way he's talking to me. Facial hair surrounds his mouth and outlines his round face. The man isn't exactly well-built, but he's not chubby either.

"What exactly are you planning on doing with these Lugia?" I ask. Blame my heart and compassion, but if they lay a hand on these Lugia without a good explanation, I'm not letting down.

"Who are you to ask me of what we're doing? When I asked Hastings to assign a ranger to help me, I didn't expect I'd get some idiot child that will interfere," he replies to me harshly. "You better hurry on home before you get yourself hurt boy!"

I grit my teeth and clench my fists. "Don't talk to me as if I'm a child!" I snap. The harsh tone of my voice even startled my partner Pokémon.

"Get out of the way boy!" he says to me. He draws a gun that was in a holster attached to his hip.

I see one of the soldiers behind him step forward. What differentiates this soldier from the rest is the amount of pins on his chest. Under the woodland hat equipped to his head was brown, buzz-cut hair and brown eyes that stare at me. "Sir Jones, maybe we should step down. Our duty was to simply gather information, not—"

"Stand down Corporal Kuribayashi! Our mission has changed, we were ordered to capture the Lugia child. The mother is being a nuisance so she is disposable," Jones silenced the corporal that tried to help me.

The corporal nodded and returned to his initial spot, although he appeared to have a calm, composed exterior, I can see him biting his lower lip in contempt of his superior.

"Last warning boy, get out of the way or you'll have to suffer the consequences," Jones says to me. He's not backing down is he? He's actually going to shoot me to complete his mission of taking the child Lugia.

My eyes dart from the gun pointing at me and to the soldiers behind the man threatening to shoot me. I stand my ground and wait for the bullet that might critically hurt me. When I hear the sudden gunshot I was bracing myself to hopefully dodge, but my legs were stiff and refused to move. After a few seconds flew by I opened my eyes and found the bullets on the ground. Jones and his soldiers stood in shock.

"What happened?" I murmur. When I look carefully, the images of the soldiers are slightly disoriented. I look back at the mother Lugia and find its eyes glowing brightly.

"Shoot it!" Jones orders loudly. The remaining hovercrafts begin their assault as the bullets spray continuously.

I see the bullets stop in mid-air once they get to a certain point. Each time a bullet stops, the images of the soldiers and incoming bullets becomes more disoriented. If I'm not mistaken, I think Lugia is protecting me. I believe the move the mother is using is Safeguard.

When I look back again, the mother Lugia's eyes are still glowing. She roars loudly, keeping the barrier up to protect me and her child. Golden rings surround the mother and she lets out another roar. The rings spread away from the mother, passing through her child and myself. The golden rings knocked the soldiers back and some of the hovercrafts lost momentum and began to descend.

"I didn't want to do this, but since you're resisting with that creature, I have no other choice!" Jones exclaims as he gets onto his feet. He reaches inside his pocket and receives a Pokeball. "Hariyama!" he roars when he throws the red and white ball towards me.

The Pokeball lightly collides with the barrier and drops to the ground. A Hariyama emerges from the light and bellows loudly in unison to its ground-shaking stomp. There was a loud explosion of bombs that collided with the barrier that Lugia created. I look back again and find the Lugia's eyes and body becoming fatigued, she can't continue this much longer.

With the sounds of the explosions and guns firing, when I look at Jones I see his lips moving but his voice was overpowered by the surrounding sound. My eyes then train on the Hariyama that is powerfully pounding against the barrier. I can see the barrier beginning to weaken by the gaps that ripple from the Hariyama's hands.

I have to do something quick, but I can only do so much. With the numbers of the army, I'm seriously outnumbered and overpowered. I have to think about the Pokémon I have with me and what they're capable of. I look to the Pokémon that stand behind me, each of them with eager looks in their eyes.

"Please help…" I hear the voice again. I look to the baby Lugia, noticing the tears that trail down its eyes. I nod with anxiety masked by my confidence.

I'm scared. I'm really scared. I can feel the sweat roll down my forehead. My eyes are beginning to blur and twitch as I stare straight into Jones' angry eyes. I clench my fists and wipe the sweat off my forehead. I have to think smart and figure out what to do. I'm waiting for the moment the barrier completely breaks, and with each passing moment I'm getting more anxious.

Pound after pound, the Hariyama continues to hit the barrier. The explosions continued to sound off. As the gaps of the barrier grew wider, the more tense and stiff my body began to feel. The barrier completely breaks and ripples into nothingness. The rush of soldiers begin and the hovercrafts began their descent.

"Drifblim, use Ominous Wind on the hovercrafts. Murkrow, help Drifblim by using Night Shade," I order the two aerial Pokémon. They quickly fly towards the hovercrafts and I can feel the strange draft created by Drifblim. A purplish gust of energy flew towards the hovercrafts. Murkrow became completely black and unleashed violent rings of energy that are aiming for the hovercrafts.

The hovercrafts begin to move off-course and some even spiraled their way into the water. Driflbim and Murkrow are doing a great job in repelling the hovercrafts, but some of the hovercrafts are fighting back by shooting bullets. Luckily, both of them are able to dodge and continue their attacks.

"Skarmory, Metal Sound. Aipom, Screech!" I command. Immediately I hear the screeching, horrible sound of nails running down chalkboards and a glass-shattering cry that came from Aipom. The combined sounds are almost unbearable and I feel like my ears are on the brink of bleeding. I look at the soldiers, Jones, and his Hariyama and I find their hands are immediately at their ears as they try to deafen the horrid sounds. I order loudly, "Nuzleaf, use your Grass Knot!"

I can tell Nuzleaf isn't enjoying the sounds either, but he obeys. His eyes grow light green and I can see grass sprouting from the ground. The long blades of grass wrap around the ankles of Jones, his soldiers and Hariyama. With some sort of power, Jones and his soldiers were pushed to the ground. I look behind myself and find the baby Lugia's eyes glowing; I'm guessing he's the source of the unknown power that's helping me right now.

The Hariyama is still standing, but it's annoyed and irritated at the sounds Skarmory and Aipom are making. "Flame Wheel Quilava," I say to my partner Pokémon.

Quilava lightly growls and jumps off my shoulder. He runs quickly up to the arm thrust Pokémon and he exerts flames from his mohawk-like flames on his head and the flames on his tail. He's completely surrounded in flames and he harshly tackles the Hariyama so the arm thrust Pokémon would knock over and slam itself into the ground.

Now that I have the ground troops temporarily crippled, I have to focus on the hovercrafts above. Drifblim and Murkrow are weaving and dodging bullets that were aiming at them. Murkrow summoned a nice wind that helped her and Drifblim fly quicker. Drifblim continued to send out the strange gust of energy at the hovercrafts; however, the pilots of the hovercrafts were able to overcome the Ominous Wind with little effort.

A powerful beam surrounded by a vortex of wind shot through a hovercraft. The hovercraft explodes in the sky while nearby hovercrafts lose their air and were quickly descending to the water. I look back and find the baby Lugia hovering in the air and preparing for another attack. Lugia's eyes glow light blue and it roars loudly.

The mother Lugia lied still. Her eyes twitch violently as the blood continues to stream down its body. She's too fatigued to defend herself and her child. I can see the disappointment she has in herself within her eyes.

The baby Lugia unleashes another beam of violent wind at the hovercrafts. Somehow, a hovercraft that wasn't in the line of fire was struck by some sort of psychic attack and it made a quick dive for the water.

It seems like Lugia can cover the hovercrafts with Murkrow and Drifblim being assistants. My focus returns to the ground soldiers, some of them were still cringing from the unholy sounds that Skarmory and Aipom are still making. A few soldiers were trying to get on their feet, their fingers were trying to break the Grass Knot that Nuzleaf created. The Hariyama was still lying flat on the ground, but I can't find its trainer in sight.

"Looking for me boy!" I hear the voice pierce through the screeching noise. I look for Jones and I find him holding Quilava by the leg in one hand and a gun in his other. He stood near the edge of the island and had Quilava dangling over the water. Quilava was fighting back by using fire attacks, but Jones was able to keep Quilava far enough so he can't be hit by the flame attacks. He pointed the gun at Quilava and threatened, "If you don't want your little Pokémon to die, back down boy!"

This is such an unfair ultimatum. In order to save my best friend I have to sacrifice my mission and the baby Lugia, who's trying its best to survive. My heart tells me to not back down, but my mind tells me different. Skarmory and Aipom slowly end their noise, as if they're waiting for my answer. The soldiers all stare at me. It seemed like time stopped and it won't go on until I choose what I want to do.

What should I do? I've been in bad situations before, but this just isn't fair. I know Quilava would want me to keep fighting, even the glow in his eyes tell me to continue fighting even though he might die. But I don't want him to die, we've been through way too much together to have it all end now. I know my decision will be one I regret…

"I…" I begin, but I hear a faint cry that sounded off in the sky. Murkrow violently pecked Jones to the point that the leader released both his gun and Quilava to defend himself. However, he dropped Quilava into the water.

My feet take off before I can think and I dive straight into the water. It's cold, really cold. I see Quilava struggling to swim to the surface, but being in the water isn't the best environment for him. My arm wraps around my partner Pokémon's body and I swim up to the surface. The island is too high for me to climb up to and I can't get up there without the aid of a flying or water Pokémon.

I see a hand reach out to me, it's the corporal who was trying to get Jones to back down. I don't know if I can trust him, but I reach for his hand anyway. He pulls me up and quickly speaks into my ear, "Get out of here while you still can." He gently pushes me away from the edge and turns to the soldiers. "Retreat! If we stay any longer, we'll lose more than we wanted to!"

Hovercrafts descend close to the island and the troops jump into the lowering platforms. The corporal jumps with the soldiers and I see him nod at me. Jones was fighting against the soldiers that were carrying him onto the platform of a hovercraft. I hear him cursing me and I see his angry, red face screaming at me. Before long, the hovercrafts flew away, but the remains of those that have been destroyed floated in the surrounding waters.

"You okay?" I ask Quilava, who's cradled in my arms. He nods, but he's shaking from the cold.

I look around and find the Pokémon that have been aiding me, except for Murkrow. I look around and find Murkrow lying in a puddle of water and she's not moving. I panic and run over to the darkness Pokémon and gently nudge her. I hear a quiet caw and she opens her eyes. She slowly stands and flaps her wings. I sigh in relief, but I remember about the Lugias.

I look at the mother and child legendary Pokémon and find the child gently rubbing the side of its face against its mother. The baby Lugia cries lightly, knowing that its mother is dying. The mother lied still and was breathing slowly. I slowly move towards the Lugias and they don't seem to be hostile anymore.

"I'm sorry," I say to the baby Lugia. My hand gently strokes the baby Lugia's head and neck. I feel the gentle vibrations of the baby Lugia crying.

The baby Lugia picks at its wings and it turns its head to me. In its mouth was a single, glittering, silver feather. The Silver Wing. The Lugia forces the feather into my hand. The Lugia hums and the feather vibrates in my palm.

Before this amazing moment could be further explored, my capture styler is ringing. I hear Professor Hasting's voice, "Noxis, please come back to the Ranger Union right now." I know I'm in trouble, but what's he going to do? Put me on probation?

The Lugia nods at me and I nod back. I move away and climb onto Skarmory. I order, "To the Ranger Union." Aipom and Nuzleaf follow me onto Skarmory. Skarmory cries out and flaps its wings and it starts flying with Murkrow and Drifblim quickly following behind.

"Thank you," I hear a voice speak inside my head. The baby Lugia...

The trip to the Ranger Union was quick in time, but long in wait. Hastings is a pretty scary man, and even though I know he can't do much to me, I'm nervous. All of the Pokémon that assisted me on the Whirl Islands returned to their environment, except for Murkrow. Quilava crawls his way up my arm and wraps himself around my neck. I enter the lobby of the Ranger Union and find no one present. I slowly work my way up the stairs and enter the meeting room, which is where Hastings is most likely located.

I enter the room. It's dark, but the lights flash on once I take a few more steps into the room. Hastings is all alone in here and he's staring straight at me. Hinted by his posture and creasing brows, he's angry. "Noxis…" he says.

I swallow hard and wait for the words to come out of Hastings mouth.

"I'm sorry Noxis, but I will have to strip you of your Top Ranger rank," he says.

Those… Aren't the words I was waiting for. Strip me of my rank? That's stupid! Is he trying to make me angry? "For doing what? Fighting for what was right?" I exclaim.

"No, you broke the code of the Rangers and you will have to pay the consequences. You went too far Noxis, it was one thing to stop the army from attacking, but it was another thing by attacking them. You never hurt people, even if they interfere with your mission," he explains. The words coming out of his mouth are angering me more.

"Hurt people? I only had my Pokémon halt the soldiers' actions, that's it. I never actually attacked anyone!" I yell, I stomp my foot which probably made a crack of the screen floor.

Hastings shakes his head, replying, "I've heard different from Captain Jones. I'm sorry Noxis, but you are no longer a Top Ranger, or a Ranger at that. I'll have to detain you."

"No!" I respond. I turn and run for the door.

"Stop!" I hear Hastings calling after me.

I keep running, even if my legs are tired. Rangers start appearing in front of me, some of them try to stop me, but I forcefully push them aside to make my escape. When I return outside of the Ranger Union, there's a large array of rangers that were waiting to stop me. It's like Hastings knew I was going to start running away.

"I don't want to do this Noxis, but if you stop now, you won't get punished too badly," I hear a former friend say. That cowboy hat gives him away.

Murkrow cries loudly and flies slightly above me. Her talons grab my arm and she flaps violently to get me and Quilava off the ground. A powerful draft of wind picks me up off the ground and I quickly rise off the ground with Murkrow tugging my arms. Attacks from the partner Pokémon of rangers below were aiming for me or Murkrow. I take a couple of Water Guns to the face, Thunderbolts to the feet, and Swifts to the knee. Quilava tries to fight off by using Flamethrower and he manages to stop a couple of attacks.

Thanks to the Tailwind that Murkrow created, we were out of the rangers' line of fire before I could sustain any more damage. I don't know exactly where Murkrow is going to take me, but I know I won't be safe here in Almia. Not only in Almia, but I won't be safe in Fiore or Oblivia too. I'll have to go back to Johto, but that's too obvious. I can't return home, because I'm sure that's the first place they'll check for me when they get there. Then again… Are they going to waste their time looking for me?

* * *

**Author's Notes: ** Sorry for the long delay of this update. And I also apologize for the, seemingly, rush of the chapter. I've been playing Persona 4 nonstop and I'll be playing The Answer in Persona 3:FES soon; I'm playing these games mostly because Persona 4 Arena is coming out in 2 months and I'm super excited for it. Anyways, updates will be slow, but I'll definitely try to write whenever I can! Thanks for all your patience and please continue to read. Also, I'm still accepting OC's, the form is at the end of Chapter 4, so if you're interested definitely let me know. Thanks for reading! =]


	7. Chapter 7

-Chapter 7

The vibration of the Silver Wing… Does this mean that the baby Lugia is nearby? It's been years since I've encountered him and I'm still a little surprised that he gave me one of his Silver Wings. I look to the ocean beyond the powdery sand and I hear a mystical hum that causes the Silver Wing to vibrate again. I wonder how he's been, or if he's even alive. The poor little guy witnessed too much at such a young age.

I sigh and shake my head. I quietly mutter to myself, "Damn memories." I begin walking back to the facility, quickly ordering, "Come on Ty, let's see if we can find something to do."

Before I move too far a rough voice calls out to me, "Unless you find interest in indulging scientific work, you will find yourself in a state of boredom if you choose to remain here."

I turn my head a find a man with roughed up, pale blue hair. The man has pale eyes that look like they're staring into an empty void. His face is shallow, drained of all emotion and energy. His clothes are dark and casual. Some sort of collar tightly hugged his neck. I'm a little surprised by the presence of this man, considering that he has been reported to be dead for a couple years now. "Cyrus?" This must be the special guest that Clair was talking about yesterday.

Cyrus, the former leader of Team Galactic of the Sinnoh region. He isolates himself from people and Pokémon so he can create his ideal world that is void of emotion. I've only heard stories, but he was able to capture the Lake Trio and summon Dialga and Palkia. But soon after, Giratina appeared and took him to the Distortion World. Cynthia was one of the few people that has ever entered the Distortion World and even though Cyrus was saved, he refused to leave because he still wanted his ideal world to become a reality. I'm interested to know how he got here. Or why he's here for that matter, considering he was an enemy for the majority of the people here.

"In the flesh," he says. He moves towards me and stares straight into my soul. I swear it feels like he has the ability to drain me of my energy. "A child like you, causing so much ruckus among the world. Your emotions are your weakness," he says to me.

What's he trying to do? Recruit me for his fallen team? Even though the words he's saying a pretty intimidating, they're nothing. "What brings you here Cyrus? I thought you were in some other world because you were kidnapped by some Pokémon," I say, more rudely than I wanted it to be.

He chuckles creepily, replying, "I was found at the top of Spear Pillar by _that_ woman. She brought me here so I can help with the Dark Stone. Nothing more."

"Why don't you just escape? Or is that collar some sort of leash that they all have on you so you won't run away?" I'm kind of toying around with him; though I do admit I'm being a little too rude and harsh than I intend. I honestly don't hate the guy or anything, but with a guy so devoid of emotion, it's fun to just mess around with him.

He bites his lip and say, "If I move too far away from _that_ woman this collar will send electrical surges throughout my body. It's their way of supervising me."

"Seems like you made a friend Cyrus," a mature female voice announces.

I look to the direction of the facility and find a woman with long, light blonde hair. She's dressed in all black which contrasts her light skin. Her long, black coat has fur at the end of the sleeves and tail. What seem to be hairclips are in the shape of the aura sensors that Lucarios have on their heads. Honestly, I'm not really entranced by her, although she is a really nice looking woman, but I'm more fixated on how she can withstand the heat in all black clothes and long clothing.

"Cynthia," I hear Cyrus grumble.

Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh region. She's a Champion that can match up to Lance in terms of deeds she has done. She's widely popular and is always helping people, but she has quite the secret side to her as well. For one thing, she hasn't even told anyone where she lives and says that the region is a secret. Well whatever the case, she's always open to do some good.

"Break time is over Cyrus, Blaine needs you to run some tests," she says with a wide grin on her face. I'm guessing she's enjoying being able to control the former leader of Team Galactic.

He grumbles with a hint of a snarl. He mutters to me before leaving, "Be cautious around here."

Be cautious, huh? I don't know if he's warning me to not trust these guys and is genuinely looking out for me or simply because he doesn't trust them. Now that I think about it, why should I trust Lance, Clair, and them? I was brought here for no reason and they're not telling me anything. But this is Cyrus, a guy who wants to create a world to call his own. Whatever the case, I'll take Cyrus' words and be careful while I'm here. Who knows how long I'll be here?

I watch the former leader leave and enter the facility. I begin to move, but Cynthia stops me with her words, "So you're Noxis. You're pretty famous, though not for a good reason. But, it's finally nice to meet you." She stretches out her hand towards me.

I return the gesture and question, "And what brings you here?"

"Aside from getting Cyrus back in there, I was told by Volkner that you were out here. All of the Gym Leaders that are here are having a meeting with Lance, so I decided to meet you myself. It's not every day that I get to meet someone who has the army on his tail and has been able to escape more than enough times," she says with a genuine smile.

Right, like it's so great and such a great honor to be chased by the army and former colleagues. I lightly roll my eyes and reply, "So, is there really any reason for me to be here? Considering you're the Champion and all, you should know something that Lance has been keeping secret to me."

"If Lance is keeping things to himself, then it's for good reason. He's the type of guy who knows what to say and what to keep to himself. But for why you're here, I'm not really sure myself. Lance has given me a few pieces of information that revolves around wanting you as a strong line of defense, but there was another time when he said that he needed you because you have ties with special people and Pokémon," she answers.

Special ties to people and Pokémon? For the Pokémon part, I guess that's right with the Lugias, but who knows if they're even alive anymore. But special people? I have no idea who he can be talking about. The only special people that I can think of is Koga and Janine, but Lance should know both of them since Koga is an Elite 4 member and Janine is a Gym Leader in the Kanto region. My history with Koga is simple, he has helped me with my ninja training a couple times when I was a kid and Janine was always with him.

"So basically you guys want to use me?" I say. Those might not be the right words, but I don't really care.

Cynthia reacts with shock and surprise. However, she keeps a calm tone when she replies, "Use you? No, that sounds too malicious. We just need you as extra help. It doesn't hurt to have extra help. Think of it as you being someone who can be the hero when we are in a tight situation."

I scoff. Hero? Me, a hero? That's the last thing I want to hear, but I reply with a playful smile, "Last time I tried to be the hero, I wound up losing my title. I'm sure you know of my history."

"But you'll be a hero with glory and justice. You won't be persecuted like you were when you were younger," she replies.

"Whatever," I say. I don't have much else to say to her. It's not that I don't like her, but her choices for words towards me aren't exactly the right ones to go with. "I'll be going back to my room." I begin walking towards the facility.

"Wait," she calls out to me. "There's another reason why I was looking for you. I wanted to know if you would like to observe the dragon trainers and see if the Dark Stone will awaken. This was a question that was asked by Lance, but since he'll be with the dragon trainers, he wanted me to get the message to you."

Dark Stone, dragon trainers, awakening some legendary Pokémon. It sounds like some damn fairytale that you would tell to little kids. Whatever the case, I have nothing better to do. I shrug my shoulders and say, "Sure. I got nothing better to do, other than take a nap."

Cynthia smiles and walks pass me and says, "Great, follow me. I'll take you to the room."

I comply and follow with Typhlosion closely following behind me. It's better that I have a guide anyway since I don't know the exact areas of the facility. Hell, if it weren't for Andy I probably wouldn't have made it outside. All in all, I don't care if I know the areas of this facility because I'm pretty sure I won't be staying here for too long. If I don't end up just making myself leave, I know the army will end up coming and I'll have to leave. And why should I put so many people in danger? This settles it, I'm planning to leave soon, most likely tonight or extremely early in the morning.

Cynthia guides me through several hallways and she tries to make short talk, but I keep ending the conversation with simple answers. I'm not much in the mood for talking, and I'm not trying to look bad, but being around people just isn't my cup of tea. Hell, even Typhlosion seems annoyed to be around so many people, but he has a great excuse for being that way.

Once we enter the room, Cynthia says, "Here we are. I have some things to talk about with Steven over there, so just make yourself comfortable." She breaks away from me and moves over the Steven Stone, the former Champion of the Hoenn region.

I look around the room. There's a large glass wall that overlooks into a facility filled with machines, electricity, and scientists. Conveniently, there are benches and seats that are made of leather and look extremely comfortable to sit on. The room has some sort of strange hue of dark blue, even the glass seemed to have this color.

I look around some more and fine the few Gym Leaders I saw yesterday and earlier today are in the room along with a few other faces that I don't know. Volkner was talking with Jasmine. Brawly was discussing something with Skyla. And Whitney, who looks extremely exhausted and deprived of sleep, tried to keep herself awake on the chair she was sitting in. Andy is in this room also, but she's bouncing person to person like some socialite. I find the man dressed in white with black hair staring through the glass; I still have to figure out who this guy is.

I find a few more Gym Leaders that must have arrived really early this morning or extremely late at night. Norman from the Hoenn region was taking to Erika from the Kanto region. Brock and Misty, from the Kanto region, were watching through the glass with awe and wonder; for some reason, I feel like they're inner desire was to be the one that can awaken the Dark Stone. Candice and Maylene from the Sinnoh region were having some sort of hype conversation with Cilan, Cress, and Chili, the three Gym Leaders from the Unova region.

There were a couple of people of interest. One was a man that stood tall and wore a black coat and heavy boots that are worn to travel through harsh terrain; at his sides were an Umbreon and Espeon that had an ominous glow in their eyes. The guy has short hair and no facial hair, giving him a pretty youthful appearance. Hanging off of his shoulders is a backpack loaded with all of his necessities. Something that really gets me, and it might just be my eyes, but I see some sort of faint, ghostly aura around him.

Another person of interest was a younger male with short, brown hair and incredible emerald eyes that seem like they can stab right through me; standing closely next to him was a Gardevoir that seemed to have its hands around the forearm of this man. When I look at his face I see him smirking and then chuckling lightly as if someone told him a joke, even though no other person is talking to him. All of these faces must have some sort of story behind them, and even though I'd like to get acquainted with them, I'm not sure if I ever will.

I move to a vacant bench and wait for the show to start. And soon enough, it does. I see Blaine, accompanied by Wattson from Hoenn and Cyrus. While Wattson and Cyrus were making some final adjustments to the machines, Blaine announces, "Hello everyone! Soon we will see if the Dark Stone will react to our fellow friends. I have gone over safety precautions with the dragon trainers in case anything will go wrong. You all that are observing are protected and will not be harmed if anything were to happen. So, we'll get things started immediately." Blaine runs around the facility and makes the final checks.

What exactly will happen? And are all of those machines really necessary? It's a stone, not some sort of extraterrestrial rock that may contain some sort of energy that will harm us all. And if things were to go wrong, how bad would it be? Explosions? The legendary Pokémon going berserk? What the hell, I'll even predict that the stone itself will explode.

First to come in is Lance, who is quickly followed by Clair. Next is Drake, an Elite 4 member from the Hoenn region; sporting some sort of pirate getup with his chest exposed. Last two were Iris and Drayden, both dragon-type Gym Leaders that run the same gym in Unova; Iris is really young and dark skinned, but she looks like she has the potential to be a great Gym Leader; Drayden is a tall, burly guy with a really strange looking beard and mustache, but I hear he's really respected in his city.

Everyone watches closely through the glass. I didn't notice before, but the ground made some sort of star-shape symbol and the dragon trainers are standing at the edge of each point. Blaine, Wattson, and Cyrus cleared out of the room, but they were in a room that held machines and Blaine was standing near a microphone.

A line of light traced the star and once it was done the whole symbol glowed. A panel opened up in the middle of the star and some sort of column rises above the floor. On the column was a glass case with a jet black stone. The Dark Stone, it doesn't look all that interesting, it's just some spherical rock that's black.

"Iris, go ahead and move towards the Dark Stone. If you see blue, jagged lines it means it's awakening," Blaine instructs through the microphone.

The young Gym Leader moves towards the column. Her hands slowly stretch out for the Dark Stone, but she stops moving when her fingers are only inches away from the glass. The Dark Stone remains still and boasting its black skin. Not a single jolt that Blaine was talking about even flashes. Iris sighs with disappointment and moves back to her spot.

Drayden was the next one to move forward. He stood tall and straight and cautiously moved his way to the column. His eyes stare straight into the Dark Stone and he stands a few feet away from the column. Again, the Dark Stone doesn't react with anything and Drayden walks back to his spot.

Drake moved forward to the column. And not even he could awaken the Dark Stone. Clair was next and once she was close to the glass box, she stood there for a much longer time than the rest; she was really hoping to be the one to awaken the Dark Stone. Last, was Lance.

I hear whispers from fellow spectators that include. "It's probably going to be Lance."

"Lance would make an awesome hero, he already is one."

"If it isn't Lance…"

Everyone was hoping the Dark Stone would awaken to Lance's presence. Lance took slow footsteps to get to the column. He stood there, watching the Dark Stone. Everyone in the room inched closer to the glass, anticipating the moment when the Dark Stone will spark blue. Instead, the Dark Stone remained passive. Everyone let out a disappointed sigh, some even stomp their feet. I see Lance shrug his shoulders and return to his position.

I sit back into the bench and fold my arms. How anti-climatic. Even Typhlosion wasn't amused. I look around and find people discussing the unsuccessful event. Cynthia was discussing the event with Steven Stone, Alder, the Champion of the Sinnoh Region, and Wallace, the current Hoenn Champion. They had serious faces, but they weren't disappointed in the unsuccessful outcome. It's almost as if they predicted that this would happen.

Right when people began to exit out of the room I hear an explosion. It wasn't extremely loud, but it caught the attention of my Typhlosion. I look into the room that the dragon trainers are still in and none of the machines were malfunctioning. I hear another explosion, it was slightly louder than the first, but it wasn't enough to garner any attention. Finally, I hear buzzers ringing and red lights flashing.

"Code red! We are under fire! Resistance fighters please assemble your way outside and escort those who can't protect themselves to safety. Gym Leaders and Champions, take your positions." The voice of the announcement was filled with static and I'm surprised people heard what the person had to say.

I see people quickly make their way out of the room. Gym Leaders were calm and removed themselves from their room to take action. The Champions were telling people to hurry their way out of the room. I, however, slowly stand and go towards the glass. I don't think going outside will help us, staying here will prove to be the battle scene we're all waiting for.

While I watch the dragon trainers begin to leave, the ceiling of their room explodes open. Of course they're startled and the remaining people in the room turn to the glass again. In comes rangers and soldiers with their Pokémon. The dragon trainers split up with Lance, Drayden, and Clair remaining here to defend the Dark Stone and Iris and Drake go outside to escort scientists to safety. Lance and Clair release their Dragonites and Drayden follows up with a Haxorus.

Cynthia and Steven are still in this room and they're looking at the soon-to-be battle scene. Wallace and Alder left the room to escort people outside. "How did they find us?" Steven let out.

I hear Cynthia call out to me, "Noxis, please leave the room. We'll take care of things here."

I shake my head and smile, "Nah, you guys will be extremely outnumbered. I'll stay and help." Without any approval, I order Typhlosion, "Ty, melt the glass, we're heading down there." Typhlosion nods and lets out a blazing flame that quickly melts the glass. I reach for the metal chain attached to my pants and I throw it at the benches behind me and it wraps around the legs. I jump through the hole that Typhlosion made and he grabs onto me as I descend.

I hear the screams and cries of Pokémon battling. I feel the intense heat of Flamethrowers and the chilling winds of Ice Beams. I see some of the Resistance fighters battle alongside the three dragon trainers. A few of the fighters are people that I found interesting. The man in all white was commanding his Gallade as he was countering a soldier; the blade Pokémon's fists were highlighted in purple and was punching a Machoke in the face. Another was the man with his Espeon and Umbreon, he was moving with so much agile that it seemed superhuman, but he was fighting off soldiers and rangers in hand-to-hand combat; the Espeon and Umbreon were facing a double team of Excadrill and Zebstrika. The boy with his Gardevoir was also among the fray, his Gardevoir was using Psychic to throw Pokémon, soldiers, and rangers around the room.

Once my feet touch the ground I pull my chain and it comes back to me from above. Before I reattach it to my pants, I use it to slap a few soldiers across the face. I look around and, order Typhlosion, "Go Ty, you know what you're capable of." My friend nods and ventures off on his own, making sure to make a fiery entrance.

Cynthia follows me down on her Garchomp and she immediately goes into battle. Steven follows Cynthia on his Metagross. I run into the heart of the battle, towards the column. I dodge Hyper Beams, Thunderbolts, Razor Leafs, just to see who got the Dark Stone in their hands. But someone beat me to it, Lance quickly snatched the Dark Stone and stashed it into his pocket.

Lance notices me and moves towards me, "Noxis! What are you doing here? Get out of here!"

"And miss this?" I say, "Plus, it seems like you guys need the reinforcement."

Lance shakes his head and says, "Fine, just be careful." He quickly goes back into the battle, though I don't think I'll be seeing him do close combat fighting.

I reach into my pouch and take out a Pokeball. "Yo Gliscor, you're finally being put to work," I say when the fang scorp Pokémon reveals itself from the light of the Pokeball. Gliscor has been a great asset to the team. He's fast, but can hit hard. And with his type combination, he's immune to several attacks. "Gliscor, go help Ty. Just try not to destroy the place." Gliscor nods and glides his way into the air, his teeth were sparkling blue and his pincers were glowing.

I can see Typhlosion breathing out a harsh Flamethrower that was able to damage a group of Skarmories that were harassing him. Gliscor quickly glided into the battle to assist Typhlosion and his punches a Skarmory and bites a Vileplume that was preparing a Solar Beam.

I end up grappling a few soldiers, they were all strong; I mean, they kinda have to be with them being in the military and everything. Some of them got a few punches on me, but Resistance fighters came to my aid and tackled them off of me. As I was getting up I feel a thin wire wrap around my neck and someone pulling it hard to choke me. I reach for the body behind me and I throw the person to the ground.

"Dee?" I let out when I see her face react to the impact of her getting thrown. I rip the wire off of my neck, the damn thing really hurt.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" she yells at me. She quickly gets up and slaps my face and proceeds to attack me with a barrage of punches and kicks.

As I dodge, because, for some reason, I can't bring myself to really hit her. Maybe it's because I know she doesn't belong with these soldiers, or maybe it's because I have a real soft spot when it comes to physical contact with girls that I have been able to be acquainted with. Whatever the case, I just continue to dodge and block.

"Trust me? When did you trust me?" I question. Could she be referencing to when we were exchanging stories when I was captured?

She snarls and says, "You know what I mean! And now you're with the enemy. You could've helped us, but instead you go with them!"

"Are you serious? You think I came here because I wanted to? I'm only here because I had no other choice," I say, trying to calm her down.

"Fuck you!" she yells, throwing a punch.

Damn, that wasn't called for. Why is she being so emotional about this? It's not like we had a thing, all we did was trade stories and that's it. I catch her fist and pull her in, "Listen, if you guys didn't capture me, I wouldn't have been dragged here by Lance and this wouldn't be happening."

"Don't try to get yourself out of this by blaming it on us," she replies. She angrily grits her teeth and retaliates by headbutting me.

The headbutt didn't hurt, but it did leave me pretty dazed. I release her so I can regain my concentration. I feel a swift kick hit my chest and push me back. I see another leg fly towards me, but I was able to dodge this one. A punch aims for my head and I was able to catch it and restrain the person who threw it at me.

Of course, it was Dee. She yells at me, "Why are you fighting against us?"

"Well for starters, you guys are on my tail and were trying to capture me. I think that's a good enough reason," I reply. "Listen, I know this is going to sound weird, but you're fighting for the wrong people. You're not on the right side. And I'm not either."

"What, so you're saying that I should join you and your team?" she asks.

I shake my head, answering, "Just think about it. I can't force you to do anything. And take it from someone who has been on the run for years, you can turn back and live a better life."

There was some sort of surprise in her eyes, but she replies with anger, "You're also a fugitive. Don't try to sweet talk me into leaving my team."

Sweet talk? I'm not doing any sweet talk? Though it may just be her emotions rising right now. "Just think about what I've been saying," I say to her. I release her and begin to move away.

I see a shadow cast over the entire area and I look up to find hovercrafts swarming the sky. The soldiers begin to retreat and Dee, gives me one last look before she follows the rest of her comrades. Once the soldier leaves the area, it leaves the Resistance and myself inside. Instead of the hovercrafts leaving, I see guns come out of the hovercrafts and they're aiming right at us.

Dammit! They're going to shoot us. I pull out both Gliscor's and Typhlosion's Pokeballs and look for my two Pokémon. In turn, they were looking for me and they're both fatigued. "Time to get back in your Pokeballs guys, it's not safe out here. Before they could retaliate, the red light absorbed them into their individuals Pokeballs. I hear the guns start up and several bullets pierce through a couple of Resistance fighters.

I start running. Where to? I have no idea, but I just keep going. Then I hear it again. The melodic hum. The Silver Wing vibrates in its pocket, but it's vibrating more violently than it was before. Even the melodic hum is louder. I look up and find a vortex of wind slice itself through a hovercraft. A couple of hovercrafts follow the hovercraft to its demise. Members of the Resistance stop their movements and look up too, to see what is causing the hovercrafts to be destroyed so easily.

First I see nothing but darkness. Next I hear the melodic hum, which is followed with the violent vibrations of the Silver Wing. Lastly I hear words speak into my head.

"Time for me to help you."


	8. Chapter 8

-Chapter 8

The baby Lugia grew up. He's a giant now. Not only could he cover the sky from where I am, he can easily blast the hovercrafts with ease. It's been four years and the little guy sure did get stronger.

I stand there with the Resistance fighters, watching the Lugia blast hovercrafts out of there. Although I like the fact that the Lugia is helping, I can't help but feel worried that Dee and the rest of them are going to get seriously injured. I'm almost hoping that the Lugia will calm down with his attacks and at least let some people live, even though they did kill and attack the Resistance.

I hear several words of awe from nearby fighters. "Is that a Lugia?"

"Why's a Lugia helping us?"

"That Lugia will show those bitches to not mess with us!"

I do have to admit, I'm pretty awestricken too. For a legendary Pokémon like Lugia to be helping us is a pretty rare and interesting thing to see. Then again I should've saw this coming. The Silver Wing was vibrating when I was at the beach and it's vibrating violently now.

Of course, nothing really ever goes my way. The Aeroblast that Lugia is sending is aimed straight at me and the Resistance because there's a hovercraft straight above us. I quickly grab Typhlosion's and Gliscor's Pokeballs from my pouch and make them return. I start running before the rest of the Resistance does. My feet are moving as fast as they can and I make it to the door right when the explosions begin to echo in my ears. Even though the door opens, I fly through the door due to the impact of the Aeroblast. I quickly pick myself up and start running and I see several members of the Resistance making haste too.

The Resistance and I run down long hallways as we hear explosions behind us. Glass is shattering everywhere, electric wires and pipes are falling all over the place. Fate would be trying to hinder our escape and toy with our lives. It's chaos.

I get thrown by the impact a few times, guaranteeing that I'll be getting a few bruises and scratches on my body. I can feel my shoulder bleeding, I must have cut it against some glass or metal, but I keep running. Pain is not a factor when death is chasing you.

Somehow, I make it outside without dying. The sun is beginning to set and there's a pretty orange glow in the sky. I follow the Resistance fighters a little more as they move onto the beach. I find several Resistance members and citizens staring at the Lugia that is slowly descending to the ground. In the distance I can see a few hovercrafts that managed to escape without being harmed. When my eyes return to the ground level, I find several medical people tending to injured Resistance fighters. I don't know whether to be offended or relieved that no one is fussing over my injuries. Regardless if anyone does help me, I'll help myself. Then again, I don't feel any pain from the injuries I know I gained. Instead of pain, I feel relief. When I look at the cut on my shoulder I see some sort of sparkly, pale yellow fog being absorbed by the cut. Naturally I would be freaking out, but I look at the Lugia and its eyes are glowing, so I know it's the work of the Lugia.

Everyone cleared out of the way when the Lugia approached ground level. The Lugia is a giant, taking up most of the nearby beach area. Its eyes stop glowing and the pale fog vanishes into the air. The Lugia lowers its head and stairs straight at me. I can hear the voice speak into my head, "It's been a long time."

His voice matured greatly, he sounds like an adult even though he's at least four years old. I've never really had any contact with psychic Pokémon in terms of mentally talking to one, but I try anyway, "Are you the same baby Lugia four years ago?" Lugia slightly nods his head. "Did your mother survive?"

"I am afraid she did not. She died the following morning, but I still must thank you for your efforts to protect us. I have been watching over you since then," he replies.

My brow rises. Now that I think about it, the Silver Wing has vibrated throughout the last four years, but I didn't really pay attention to it because the vibrations were gentle. "Watching over me?" I question.

"If you remember that ship, you will remember my contribution to your escape," the Lugia answers.

I let out a breathy scoff. That damn ship ride… I'd rather not remember it, and for me to reminisce right now will just waste time. "I see, well thanks," I say, even though the event happened two years ago.

"Detain that Lugia!" I hear some Resistance member yell.

"Did the Lugia destroy the Dark Stone!" another member yells.

I turn around and find a large crowd of the Resistance staring at me and the Lugia. Before I can object, Lance's voice speaks my mind, "No! This Lugia may have damaged the lab, but it also saved us from the hovercrafts. And I safely retrieved the Dark Stone before the army or rangers could get a hold of it." He moves in front of me, his cape is gone and parts of his clothes are ripped up or burnt.

Cynthia moves over to him and agrees, "We may have lost the lab, but it was proven that none of the dragon trainers awakened the Dark Stone, so the contents within the lab were perishable. Wattson does have backup data, if we need it, correct?"

Wattson nods and lets out a chuckle, "I do, all of the information we had here has been transferred over to Volkner's gym in Sinnoh, upon Blaine's request. Luckily not everything has been lost."

"Good," Lance lets out a sigh of relief, he's happy to know that not everything they have worked for has been lost because of Lugia. "We will go to Sunyshore City and resume the research of the Dark Stone. However, some of you will have to stay here and help rebuild the lab. Who gets to stay depends on your leader, so if you're going to Sunyshore City, I'll see you there," Lance orders with a very authoritative tone.

The Resistance members in front of me salute and spread out like insects. Some of the Gym Leaders and Resistance members began to leave with them unleashing some sort of flying Pokémon. A couple of the Resistance members and scientists, led by Blaine, quickly moved to the facility and began working on rebuilding the broken base. Cynthia and Lance turn to me, I already know that they're going to ask me to go to Sinnoh with them. Before they can ask I answer, "I'm not going with you guys."

Cynthia raises her brow and asks, "Why? You'll be able to help us just like you did in there."

"Do you really think I want to go through that again because I really don't want to go through everything that happened in there a second time. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll go on my own path again," I reply as nicely as possible. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't want to be a part of some war that might happen.

The Lugia's voice echoes in my head, "It will be of your best interest to travel with them Noxis."

I turn my head to see the Lugia. His eyes are glowing bright blue and I'm assuming he's doing Future Sight on me or something. I mentally reply to him, "Why? There's no need for me to follow them, only trouble."

"The rangers and army are still hunting for you. If you choose to group with them, you will be safe for a longer period of time than if you choose to travel alone. Consider it," he replies to me. For a pretty young Pokémon, he sure does talk with great maturity and wisdom.

"Fine, but are you going to stick around? Not that I don't enjoy your presence because not everyone gets to be friends with legendary Pokémon. It's just that you're a legendary Pokémon and people will be trying to catch you," I reply. I am pretty worried that if he sticks around, he'll be in more trouble than I will be in.

"I will temporarily be with you for my time is limited. But do not worry for me," Lugia replies with some sort calm tone that sent chills down my spine.

"What is the Lugia saying?" Lance asked.

"How do you know that we're communicating?" I ask.

"Aside from its eyes glowing blue, you look really concentrated," he answers.

I sigh. As reluctant as I am, I know the Lugia is right. I will be safer with these guys for a few days, but I can't stay with them for too long. "I'll be going with you guys, only for a while though. I want no part of this conflict you guys with the army," I reply.

I see Cynthia and Lance grin happily. "Glad to have you with us for a little while longer," Lance says.

"Cyrus!" I hear Cynthia cry out with a grin. Swiftly walking towards us is the former team Galactic leader who has a few scorch marks and cuts in his clothing, but, from what I can tell, he's not too damaged.

I can see Cyrus gritting his teeth. He really must not enjoy being controlled by Cynthia, then again, I don't think anyone would enjoy being controlled by anyone. Despite the way he's gritting his teeth, he says, "Shall we be going?"

Lance nods and takes out a Pokeball, but before he can unleash whatever Pokémon he was going to cal out, I see him, Cyrus, and Cynthia levitating. I realize that I'm levitating too. There's a ghostly blue outline around Champions and Cyrus. I look at myself and find that same ghostly outline. I turn my head to Lugia and his eyes are light blue, and I know it's his work of our levitation trick. We levitate higher and higher into the air. We're hovering over the Lugia and our feet gently land on the legendary Pokémon.

"I will be your means of travel to the Sinnoh region. It will not take long," I hear Lugia speak inside my head; and I'm sure he said the same things inside the Champions' and Cyrus' heads. Lugia stands and spreads his wings. He gently flaps and causes sand to fly away from him. He slowly ascends into the air.

The ghostly aura is still around us, but we're free to move. I'm pretty sure that the aura is just a way for Lugia to keep us safe while we're on him. I sit quietly, looking at the turquoise ocean far below Lugia. Cynthia and Lance are talking and they've been trying to get me to join their conversations, but I brush away their words with one-worded replies. Cyrus sits in silence and stares straight forward. My ears keep going in and out of their conversations and I don't have much of an interest of what they're talking about; the main topic is what to do once we get to Sinnoh, but every once in a while they'll start talking about their Pokémon and some trainers that helped them and defeated them as Champions; and these trainers have weird names, seriously who names their kid Red or Gold or Diamond?

Aside from listening in on Cynthia's and Lance's conversations, I was trying to not think about that ship incident that Lugia referred to earlier. I do pretty well for the most part, but my mind keeps drifting off into that foggy night. I've had nightmares about that incident, and I know I'll never be able to escape its hold on me. Honestly, I don't think I would've survived if Lugia wasn't there to help me. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have a legendary Pokémon as a guardian.

The rest of the flight was quick, I'm almost positive that Lugia used his psychic moves to help him move faster in the air. The region of Sinnoh is divided by the long and large mountain, Mount Coronet. I can see the clouds wrapping around the peaks of the mountain and the snow-covered part of the region being touched by the mountain. I can hear Cyrus quietly grunt at the very sight of the mountains. I've only been to Sinnoh once in my life; during a ranger mission, I had to lead a ship back to Sunyshore City because the lighthouse wasn't shining and there was a power outage due to Volkner renovating his gym again.

Lugia descends towards the large city that is Sunyshore. He aims for the beach and I can already tell that a few citizens are wondering why the legendary Pokémon is flying above their city. Lugia's feet submerge into the sea and he leans forward towards the beach. Once again, Lugia uses his psychic moves to transfer the Champions, Cyrus, and myself off of him and onto the sand.

"I will be lingering within the depths of the nearby sea for the time being," Lugia's voice speaks inside my head.

I nod to him and the ghostly outline quickly fades away. Lugia gently flaps his wings once again and soars straight into the air. He quickly makes a complete turn for the sea and spiral dives into the water. What a great way to make an exit.

"Come with us Noxis, we'll go straight for Volkner's gym," Lance says, motioning me over to him and Cynthia with his hand.

I sigh and nod. Before I follow the Champions I reach into my pouch and take out Typhlosion's Pokeball. He appears from the light and he lets out a flaming snarl. "Sorry Ty, it was for your safety that I get you in the Pokeball though," I say to the volcano Pokémon. Despite his nod of approval, he lets out another snarl. "Come on, let's see what else is in store for us today," I say with sarcasm as I follow the Champions into the streets of the city.

Sunyshore is huge, skyscrapers are everywhere, people and Pokémon are wandering around, and shiny cars speed by. Highways are everywhere and bridges link each part of the city to each other. The tallest building I can see is the lighthouse that shines far in the distance, it kind of reminds me of Olivine City back in Johto. Tall lampposts look at the citizens from above. There's a slight odor of car fumes and smoke, but it's not too bad. For the most part, I smell the perfume and cologne sprayed on the people as I walk pass them. Overall, Sunyshore is a vibrant city and I'm pretty sure if it's nighttime, there'll be plenty of glowing, colorful lights that makes the city look like a garden of lights.

I follow Lance and Cynthia through the crowds of pedestrians on the streets. They gain a lot of looks and stares because of who they are. I get a couple of stares because of the cut that's on my shoulder that's currently bright red. Typhlosion, of course, gains his usual stares because of his white fur. Out of all of us, however, is Cyrus who's getting the most stares because of who he is. I'd rather be stared for a little wound rather than my status. I kind of envy these innocent pedestrians, they don't have to worry about their life being in danger all the time nor do they have people chasing them. They're living a life that I used to have and I'm seriously jealous of that. It's times like these that make me wonder why I wanted to be a ranger in the first place.

The walk to Volkner's gym wasn't too long, but there was a large staircase we had to take to get to it. On the outside, the gym is in a giant facility that has electrical wires and cables attached to the walls. There's some sort of design made by yellow light on the front side of the gym; now that I look more closely, it's actually a very detailed outline of an Electrivire. The outside looks fancy, and knowing Volkner is someone who renovates his gym a lot, I'm pretty interested to see what the inside will look like.

The doors slide open and I feel a nice, cool breeze wrap around me. As expected, the inside of the gym is extremely mechanical and elaborate. There are giant, shiny gears under the floor. Mechanical pathways that could be rotated lead to further floors that are occupied with trainers. And of course, there's the grand battle grounds that's simply a shiny, electric yellow floor that resides in a large room at the end of the gym.

Thanks to the people who got here before us, the pathways were already finished and done with so we don't have to do it ourselves. The battle ground is filled with Resistance members and of course Volkner would be here. Other Gym Leaders that are here are Jasmine, Clair, Drayden, Jasmine, Flannery, Winona, Brawly, Maylene, Candice, Brock, and Misty. My eyes are able to find those trainers of interest within this crowd. Andy is in the crowd too talking with Jasmine and Volkner, interesting how all of these people are here.

I walk up to Lance and I ask, "Lance, who is that guy?" I point to the guy dressed dominantly in white with my eyes.

Lance looks to the guy I'm pointing to and he replies, "He's Grey Satou. He's an interesting one."

"How so?" I ask him.

"He was experimented on by a rogue group of Team Rocket that left him almost emotionless. The experiment was to make him a living weapon, which, in turn, helped us because he's a great martial artist. And in compensation for him losing almost all emotion, he was able to gain the ability to talk to and understand Pokémon speech. But in order for him understand the Pokémon, he has to establish a somewhat close bond to the respective Pokémon," Lance explains the elaborate story. Honestly, if I was just some normal person I wouldn't believe the story, but since I've gone through my share of bizarre events, I'll understand any complex story.

My eyes point to the man with an Umbreon and Espeon at his sides. Even now I can somewhat see that ghostly aura around him. I ask Lance, "And him?"

"That's Tom Reeves, a traveler who has been around the world battling, but now he's willing to help people for the greater good. Even to me, he's a pretty mysterious figure because his Umbreon and Espeon seem to have some power over him," Lance answers.

So Lance can see that strange aura too. My eyes scan around again and I find the man with the Gardevoir at his side. "And what about him?"

"That's Dan Wallace. He's pretty quiet, but when it comes time for him to take action, he will. He has a special relationship with his Gardevoir and his childhood has been pretty bad as well. Him and Flannery are pretty good friends, but that's because of where they're from and what happened during their childhoods," Lance explains.

These people sound like my kind of people. But I'm not exactly one to make conversation, so I'm not sure if I'll ever really talk to them. I nod slowly and quickly reply, "Large diversity of people you guys have."

When I look around again I find two people walking towards us. One is a woman with platinum blonde hair that's parted to the side with thin red glasses in front of her eyes. A white dress shirt outlines her thin frame and a brown sweater that seems like it's a little too big for her hangs off her shoulders. Hugging her legs are white tights finished with fancy, black sneakers at her feet. Slung over her shoulder is a red bag that matches the red tie around her neck. A Joltik rests on her head, its bright yellow color stands really stands out.

The other person looks strikingly familiar, and I'm wondering why someone dressed like him is here. The man is tall and wears an army uniform with a hat to match. Wrapped around his neck and covering a portion of his upper body is a worn out serape.

"Lance, glad you're here," the woman greets with a smile.

"Rei, what brings you here?" The dragon Champion asks.

Rei replies, "Any opportunity I get to learn about a legendary Pokémon, I'll take it. Brawley told me that the test at the Seafoam Islands didn't work, so I might be able to help out. Pokémon research is my expertise."

"Glad you're here then," Lance replies with a smile, he turn to the army guy, "Sergeant Kuribayashi, you're here as well?"

Kuribayashi… Why does that sound so familiar?

"I'm sorry I wasn't at the Seafoam Islands, I was called to Veilstone City to deal with some issues. Surge told me about the situation and I immediately came here," the man replies with a very commanding tone. A tone that I, for some reason, feel like I've heard before.

"Glad you're here with us, you'll be able to help us here," Lance says. He turns to me and says, "Cynthia, Cyrus, and I will go on ahead to see what we should do about the current situation."

"Alright, I'll just hang around the city," I say dismissively. I don't really want to be here anyway.

Lance nods and walks away with Cynthia and Cyrus. Rei follows behind them. Before I can part ways I hear Kuribayashi say, "It's nice to see you again…Noxis."

I finally remember who this Kuribayashi guy is. Saving that Lugia and the Whirlpool Island. He's the corporal that helped me and was trying to get his captain to stand down against me. Before words can escape my mouth, he has already disappeared into the crowd.

I sigh and shake my head. "Come on Ty, let's go somewhere less crowded," I say. He grunts and follows closely behind me.

I make it back outside and find that the sky is beginning to turn into a navy blue. The moon's about to shine on the city and I can already smell the nighttime air. Some of the lights of the city turned on as I walk down the streets. People are retreating into their homes and there are people closing up their stores. There are a few people that are out for a quick jog, but I don't know why they're doing it so late at night.

My feet take me to the beach where Lugia dropped me off earlier. The water slowly becomes a dark, deathly blue to match the night sky. I inhale the nice aroma from the sea. If there's anything I like about the ocean it's the smell. No one else is on the beach and I like it that way. I sit on the beach and Typhlosion sits next to me.

"You know Ty, I really wish there was a place where we could just relax and not be on the run," I say to my friend. He snarls in reply. "I'd even consider going to the Orre region just because it's not as populated. We'd even blend in there Ty, the place is filled with gangs and ghetto-ass people like us. Ha, if it weren't for the hot weather and desert, I think we would be there already." Typhlosion curls up closer to me and he's breathing deeply. My hand begins scratching between his ears. I sigh and continue talking, "You think we'll ever get a break Ty? Think the army will ever stop hunting us down? Man, how did our lives get into such a mess?" I sigh again and stair straight into the dark sea before me. The stars glitter on the wavy sea, the moon's light shines over the entire city.

"What will tomorrow bring?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! Thank you for the support and submissions! If you still want to submit a character, please feel free because I am still accepting. The form for submission is at the end of Chapter 4.

I also want to make a quick announcement. For the next few weeks, updates may be a little slow because I might be competing in a local fighting game tournament in a couple of weeks, so I want to practice for that. And a few days after the tournament is over I will be going on a family vacation, but I might be able to update while I'm on the trip. So, I hope you guys can understand. =]


	9. Chapter 9

-Chapter 9

During the night, I toss and turn and try to sleep, but it took me a while. The Pokémon Centers may be nice and convenient, but I wish they had something that'll knock me out. Sure they may have a Jigglypuff or Wigglytuff using Sing, but it doesn't work as well recorded than it does in reality. Typhlosion is having trouble sleeping too, like he usually does. I don't know how we manage to run on such little sleep, but it works out somehow. When I finally get to sleep, my dreams are plagued by Gengars and a Darkrai harassing me. The nightmare may be frightful, but this kind of shit doesn't really faze me as badly anymore after years of nightmares.

When the sun touches my face and wakes me up, I slowly go into a sitting position and rub my eyes. I look at Typhlosion and it looks like he only got a few hours of sleep during the night. I push myself off of the bed and to take a quick shower. As I'm scrubbing myself down, I start thinking about how Dee was angry at me yesterday. A girl like her shouldn't be fighting for a team of people that are our trying to make Pokémon into weapons, but I don't think that she even knows that. Honestly, I feel like she doesn't know a lot of things about the army, but she still follows them. Why can't the army be like how they used to? Just regulate the regions and make sure no chaos is happening. These are times that I wish I could go back to the good old days of my childhood.

I finish my shower and dry off. I redress into my usual ranger clothes and exit the bathroom. Even now I wonder why I still dress as a ranger, but it's one of those things that you just can't get rid of. I sit on the bed that rests against the wall. I have no idea what I'll be doing today, but at least I know I'll be safe for a while, or at least I hope I am. Knowing my luck, Sunyshore might get attacked by the army.

Before I can get lost in thought, someone knocks my door. My feet shuffle their way to the door and I open it. I'm a little surprised to find Volkner here to visit me with Brawly. First of all, I didn't even think the two talked to each other. And don't these guys have better things to do than to talk to me? Whatever the case, I'm waiting for them to tell me why they're here.

Brawly, the Hoenn fighting-type Gym Leader of Dewford Town. His pastime consists of him and his Pokémon surfing and he's widely known for the sport. I've heard that he trains his Pokémon to surf so they can win by subtle force as opposed to brute strength. He has also trained with Bruno of the Indigo League's Elite 4, so he has to know how to fight. The guy seems really laidback and a fun guy to hang around with, but I'm pretty sure these guys aren't here to ask me to hang out.

"Hey there Noxis, can we come in?" Volkner asks with a good morning smile.

"Sure, what the hell," I say as I walk away from the door to return to my spot on the bed. When Brawly and Volkner settle themselves on wooden chairs, I ask, "What brings you two here?"

"Lance thought we can convince you to help us since we're not totally serious, so he sent us here," Brawly answers, with more honesty than I expected.

I sigh, why does the Resistance want me to help them so badly? I'm nothing special. Sure I know the ins and outs of the rangers, I befriended a legendary Pokémon, and I managed to survive over the many years of being chased down. It's all about survival though, something that the Resistance should know how to do. "Listen, I'm not interested in helping you guys. I'm only staying here for a couple of days. After that, I'm gone," I say.

Volkner quickly replies, "We know that you don't want to help us Noxis, but we really could use your help. We may have strong trainers and fighters, but we need a guy who knows survival and strategy on the field. And who knows, you might be the potential person to awaken Zekrom."

I scoff. "Me? Awaken some legendary Pokémon? I'll pass, with a guy like me I highly doubt that'll happen," I reply with as much of a dismissive tone as possible.

I can tell in both Brawley's and Volkner's eyes that they're disappointed about my refusal. Can't really blame them though, they did come all the way here just to get me to help them. Whatever the case, I'd like to keep to myself and just mind my own business and not worry about some war that might happen sooner or later.

"At least come with us to the next mission," Brawley said.

I sigh again, "Like I said I want no part—"

"Our next mission hopefully won't consist of any battling. The rangers offered to have a peaceful confrontation on Mount Coronet. A lot of us are going just in case, but hopefully it'll be a peace treaty," Volkner explains, interrupting me.

A peace treaty? That's too soon, considering they attacked us just yesterday. "When?" I ask, I'm not particularly interested in going or wanting to take part, but if I know when it'll happen I'll be able to figure out if it's just a hoax or not.

"Tomorrow afternoon at two," Volkner answers. I can see a glimpse of hope that I'll go along with them in his eyes.

Tomorrow huh? It's pretty shady and quick to offer a peace treaty, especially attacking us two days prior to the time of the peace treaty. It could just be a surprise attack and they're just luring the Resistance into it. I'm sure with how I'm gently nibbling my thumb, Volkner and Brawley know I'm thinking about the situation. I don't say anything, even though it may seem like I'm raising their hopes.

"Noxis, we have to go now, but please consider joining us to Mount Coronet tomorrow. Let us know," Volkner says as he rises off of his chair.

Brawley quickly follows Volkner and says, "We need a guy like you. Think about it."

The two gym leaders leave the room, leaving myself and Typhlosion. "It's a risky choice for them Ty, I don't think the meeting will be peaceful at all," I say with a sigh.

"All the better to assist them then," Lugia's voice echoes inside my head.

"And risk my life? I don't think so," I reply to the Lugia.

"They're pleading for your assistance Noxis. If you are to leave soon, leave knowing that you have done something to help these people. I will even provide you transportation for when you decide to depart with these people," says the Lugia.

I sigh, even though I know the Lugia wouldn't know I did. "Fine, fine. But this is going to be the last thing I ever do for these guys," I reluctantly reply to Lugia. There's just something about Lugia's tone when he's talking to you that makes you feel like you should just submit to whatever he wants you to do.

I work my way off the bed and say, "Come on Ty, time to tell those guys that I'll help for this last mission." I move over to the door and open it for Typhlosion to pass through it first. I quickly follow and move down the hallway and to the main floor of the Pokémon Center. It's pretty empty and quiet and the Nurse Joy is too occupied with healing some trainers Pokémon.

When I move outside, I immediately merge in with a crowd of pedestrians. I can overhear some conversations between the pedestrians, but they're nothing of interest. Mostly, the words coming from the pedestrians were about Lugia's presence yesterday, why there are so many gym leaders in town, and just casual news. The city is pretty lively during the day, and in a big city like this, I'm pretty sure there's going to be some events tonight.

It takes me a while to get to Volkner's gym. I'm not in the mood to really be around people today, but thanks to Lugia, I have to be. I enter the gym and I go through the already solved puzzle of Volkner's gym until I reach the main battle area. I find a few of the Resistance members conversing or having a friendly battle with one another. My eyes try to find Volkner, Brawly, or even Lance to tell them that I'll help them. I wander around a bit and finally find Lance talking to Cynthia and Volkner. They notice my presence and wave me over.

"What brings you here Noxis?" Lance asks. The tone in his voice tells me he already knows why I'm here.

"You already know," I remark, and I see Lance grin slightly, "I'll go to Mount Coronet with you guys tomorrow, but that's it. I'm leaving right after it, no questions asked alright?"

I see Cynthia and Volkner smile with Lance as he replies, "Great, thanks Noxis. Here, I'll give you the quick rundown of what's going on." He reaches behind himself to retrieve some sort of pad of data. "So we're meeting here tomorrow and we'll immediately go straight for Mount Coronet. I've ordered that some of Skyla's pilots come and take us there. I will be there to negotiate about a treaty with the head of the army and rangers, but we have to be safe so several of us will go there just in case they try anything dangerous. And because they have something we don't, we don't know if they'll be using it or not against us."

"What do they have that we don't?" I ask.

"A hero," Lance replies.

"A hero?"

"Yes, they have the White Hero, vessel to the legendary Pokémon Reshiram. If they were to bring the hero and use the powers of Reshiram, we would be at a severe disadvantage, so we have to be prepared at all costs," Lance explains.

"Right," I say, even though I don't really grasp the general idea of the White Hero. "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow then, unless there's more you need to tell me." I'm hoping they don't have anything else to say.

"That will be all," Lance says, putting the pad back to whatever place he got it from.

"Great, I'll get some rest or something for tomorrow," I say walking away before anyone could reply to me. In my head I try to communicate with the Lugia, "Lugia, were you listening?"

In a few seconds I hear Lugia reply to me, "Yes. Would you like me to accompany you to Mount Coronet tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but don't do anything until I say so. I'm pretty sure the army has something up their sleeves for us when we get there. Just be there, but out of sight," I reply.

"Very well Noxis," he replies to me.

I look and say to Typhlosion, "What should we do for the rest of the day Ty?" In return, he gives me a small snarl.

I spend the rest of the day wandering around the city, looking through shops and walk on the beach. There's nothing that really captivated me enough to stay at one spot, but the city does have a large selection of things to indulge in. I sit on the beach for a long time until it turns to nighttime. There's just something sitting next to the dark ocean that really makes me want to stay, but I go to the Pokémon center and rest. Nightmares, of course, appear in my sleep, but nothing out of the ordinary; just a Dusknoir attempting to eat me. When I wake up earlier than I would like, I shower and get dressed and immediately head straight to the gym with Typhlosion.

I see a few helicopters fly in the sky and some of them sitting at the sides of Volkner's gym. I see Skyla and Volkner with a few of the Resistance members and I walk straight to Volkner.

"Hey Noxis," Volkner greets me. "You'll be in that helicopter over there, and I'll meet you at Mount Coronet." He points to a helicopter that's pretty big with some sort of stylized feather painted on it.

As I move towards the helicopter I say to Typhlosion, "Guess I have to put you in the ball Ty. You know the drill though, you'll be out once I land." Typhlosion nods and he allows himself to be absorbed by the red light of his Cherish Ball.

I step into the helicopter to find Grey, Tom, Andy, Rei, Dan, and Kuribayashi inside. Is it a coincidence that all of these faces are riding in the same helicopter as me? Whatever the case, I take my seat next to Andy, only because she's the only one I've had actual communication with, without it happening by the works of Lance or Cynthia.

Shortly after sitting, I hear the propeller of the helicopter spin rapidly and we're off the ground. I look outside and see Sunyshore City slowly shrinking as the helicopter moves further and further away from the city. I look around and everyone has somewhat nervous looks in their faces, I don't blame them though. Every time I was about to do a mission as a ranger I would be nervous regardless of how many missions I've done before and experience I had. It's just a habit you can't really get out of.

"So are you guys ready for this mission?" Andy asks everyone, trying to fill in the empty void of silence.

"Yeah, definitely, I mean we should be right?" Rei replied with a warm smile, "As part of the Resistance and mostly recruits of Lance, we should be all prepared for any ordeals that are thrown our way."

"What are we going to do once we get there?" Tom asks. I'm guessing not everyone was filled in with the fine details of the mission; then again, even I'm not sure what we'll be doing.

Kuribayashi answers, "Once we arrive at Mount Coronet, we will be standing by as we watch Lance and the army's representative talk. If anything were to happen, we will immediately go into battle."

"Sounds extreme," Dan comments, "but if it takes fighting to have peace then I guess we'll have to do it."

Andy looks at Grey and asks, "How do you feel about this mission?"

Grey replies in such a monotonous voice that it sounds like he's almost robotic, and his vocabulary isn't helping, "I feel neutral about the circumstances. If we are to protect Lance, then we should follow through with our duty. Nothing more."

Andy was taken aback by Grey's reply, she wasn't really anticipating the monotonous reply, but it's pretty funny to see her reaction. "I-I see, well good for you then..?"

"I don't really understand why the army and the rangers are teaming up to take us down. I mean aren't rangers suppose to help both people and Pokémon?" Tom asks, and I can already feel the burning gazes that are directed straight at me.

"What do you think former ranger?" Kuribayashi asks.

I'm not in much of a mood to talk, and I reply with more edge than I wanted, "I don't know shit." Then I make a quick glare at Kuribayashi and say, still with more edge than I wanted, "Weren't you once part of the army? What's your story about this?"

"So you remember," Kuribayashi comments with a small smile. "I worked my way up to Sergeant since that day and I was approached by Surge about the Resistance and how the army and rangers will be starting a movement of using Pokémon as their personal weapons. Naturally I denied the facts, but when I was presented with the information, I left my post with the army and joined the Resistance as one of the Sergeants. For the army to really go through with this? It's a shame, but as long as we can win, things will be fine in no time."

Honestly, I kind of spaced out during the story, but I got the general idea. The guy left because his heart wasn't for using Pokémon as weapons. At least he wasn't kicked out and hunted like I was, or am.

"So does all of the army approve of using Pokémon as weapons?" Tom asks, almost as if he was forced to. It's strange, and I don't exactly know how to explain it, but his voice almost didn't sound like his when he talked just a bit earlier.

Kuribayashi shakes his head, "The majority of the recruits and privates of the army don't know anything and they're just following orders. Only those of higher ranks know about the situation, and even then, some of them don't know too. If anything, the army is hiding it or telling the newer or lower ranked members lies."

Lies, huh? I wonder if Dee knows about the situation or if she's just a pawn to be played with by the army. It almost seems like she's just being used, I mean, every time I encounter her, it doesn't seem like she knows much. Hell, I wonder if she's going to be at Mount Coronet.

"That's not fair for new recruits then! I mean, they're being told to do something that they don't even know about, how can the army do that to them?" Dan comments.

"It's not all that different from us though," Rei replies to Dan, "we may know what our cause is and what we're fighting for, but when it comes to missions, we are only filled in with little details. The Resistance may be more open, but we're not always filled in with information."

"I guess you're right," Dan sighs.

Surprisingly, Grey adds, "What Rei testifies is true. Despite the open nature of the Champions, they are not completely honest with us. They do present enough information, however, to keep us on their side."

As the conversation continues with them, I just stare outside of the helicopter. From outside of the helicopter I can see slight fog surrounding the nearby mountains. The helicopter rises higher and higher until we can see some sort of area that has tall pillars. Fog is in the area, but it's not too bad that we can't see. Lance stands within a crowd of pillars, waiting.

"We'll be on standby until something happens," Kuribayashi says.

We all watch closely at Lance. Then a helicopter hovers above the area and a man in an army uniform walks towards Lance. I can see them conversing under the harsh winds of the helicopter. It takes about five minutes for things to turn strange and I hear a gunshot echo into my ears. Lance dodges to the side and he hides behind a pillar. He pulls out a Pokeball and unleashes his Dragonite.

"Lance is under attack! Let's go!" Kuribayashi orders. He reaches into his pockets and pulls out a Pokeball. "Ares!" he yells as he jumps out of the helicopter. Materializing from the light is a Charizard that Kuribayashi lands on and takes him straight to the area where Lance is. Everyone else follows and prepares for their jump.

"Roxie!" Dan calls out a Flygon that has blue patterns instead of dark green, a shiny Pokémon. He's caught by his Flygon, Roxie, and follows Kuribayashi.

Grey lightly says, "Honchkrow." His Pokeball opens and that Big Boss Pokémon emerges from the light and carries Grey to his destination.

Tom tosses his Pokeball to the ground to release Espeon. As soon as the Espeon emerges from the light, I can see that faint aura outlining Tom's body. "Let's go," he says as a psychic energy carries him out of the helicopter.

"Can I get a ride with you Andy?" Rei asks, "I don't have a Pokémon that can take me down there."

"Sure!" Andy replies, "Just make sure to keep all of your arms and legs inside the ride at all times!" Andy winks and releases her Pokeball.

"Wait what?" Rei remarks, slightly startled by Andy's words.

"Come on Dewgong!" Andy says with a joyous tone. Her Dewgong emerges from the light and jumps out of the helicopter. Andy grabs Rei by the wrist and jumps onto her Dewgong.

I hear Rei shriek slightly as she falls, "Just my luck!" Even though it looks like they'll plummet straight to the ground, Dewgong surrounds itself, Andy, and Rei in water and propels forwards to follow the others. I'm assuming Dewgong was using Aqua Jet.

I slowly stand and sigh. "You there Lugia?" I ask with my mind.

"Yes."

"Be prepared to leave and intervene when you can," I advise.

"I will be."

"Come on out Honchkrow, time to stir up some chaos," I say. The red beam of light reveals Honchkrow. Her talons grab onto my arm and I'm flying straight to the battle area where I can already see Pokémon fighting each other with beams of ice or electricity. The trainers are fighting too, and if I'm looking at things correctly, I think the army actually brought firearms this time around.

Honchkrow releases me when she knows I can land safely and she's already off to fight some Pokémon, or harass some soldiers; either way she's eager for the action to happen. I reach for the Cherish Ball in my pouch and Typhlosion snarls once he's out.

"Let's do this Ty," I say as I run into battle.

Typhlosion breaks off from me and attacks a Machoke with Flame Wheel. I look a little further ahead to find Honchkrow violently pecking an Abomasnow. My Pokémon can take care of themselves, so I start focusing on the man-to-man battles. I find a fist flying towards my face, I barely dodge in time and I counter with a hard elbow hit to the person's stomach.

A pair of hands grab my shoulders and I'm lifted into the air. I'm thrown and I land hard on the ground. My vision blurred for a second and when it refocuses I find a large man ready to stomp my face into the ground. I quickly roll away and I hook my legs around the man's ankles and I forcefully push—or trip—him. I quickly get up and kick him in the face to knock him unconscious.

Before I can move too far, I feel a hard punch connect with my back. I turn to find another large army man with his fists flying towards me. I dodge and I back up against a pillar. The man punches again and I duck so his fist collides with the stone pillar behind me. My fist uppercuts the man's jaw and knocks him back a little. I run towards the army guy and clothesline him to the ground.

I feel the quick breeze of a kick whizz pass my ear. I look to the side and of course I find Dee. Does she seek me out throughout the crowd or something just so she can fight me? Her face is angered as usual and she's on the full assault to beat me. I block and dodge her attacks, and I even counter some attacks, but I can't bring myself to hit her with all of my might.

"Why do you keep targeting me?" I ask her.

She doesn't reply and continues to attack me. I didn't notice before, but her hands are gloved and armed with some sort of sharp metal at the knuckle region. I'm guessing the metal is to either slice me, add extra impact to a punch, or both. Either way, I have to avoid being punched by her.

Her attacks continue to come at me and I continue to dodge. Somehow I was able to grab a hold of her arm and keep her from hitting me. And somehow our faces are really close in this position. "Do you even know why you're fighting?" I ask her. Words from Kuribayashi from the helicopter ride start coming back to my head.

She grits her teeth and says, "What the hell do you mean?" I can feel her trying to free herself from my clutches.

"I mean, do you know why you're fighting? Why you're even part of the army? Do you know the reason why the army is fighting?" I ask her, and with each question my voice naturally raises higher and higher than the last.

She looks away for a brief moment and says, "No, but that doesn't mean that what I'm doing isn't the right thing."

In a way she's right. In her own point of view, she could be doing the right thing. But for me and the Resistance, it's the complete opposite. "So you seriously don't know why the army is fighting and why all of this is happening?" I ask her.

"I already said I don't," she replies as she grits her teeth and fights her way out of my grip.

"Then what if I told you that the army is planning to take Pokémon and use them as weapons of war?" I confess to her.

A shock face appears and she hesitantly says, "I-I wouldn't believe you."

For some reason I release her, but she doesn't try to fight me. The shock seemed to have paralyzed her movements. I was about to say something, but then I hear someone yell, "Get to cover!"

I look to the side and I find a silhouette of some Pokémon with wavy fur. It raises high into the air and I react quickly. First I pull out my Pokeballs to call back Honchkrow and Typhlosion, both of which were on their way to return to me anyway. Out of instinct, I wrap my arms around Dee. Before I hide behind a pillar with Dee, I see the blue flames work their way towards me and consume people who were unfortunate enough to be burned in the blazing flames.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Hey guys! So I'm finally updating, even though it's only been a week-ish or so. If anyone cares about the local tournament I was in…I actually won Grand Champion in Soul Calibur V(!), and I tied in 5th for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It was my first fighting game tournament I've ever been in so I was really nervous, but it was a great experience and I'm surprised that I even won Soul Calibur. Anyways, like I said in the last chapter, I will be going on a family vacation soon, but I might be able to update during it; plus I'm not going to be gone for long. Anyways, thanks again for the support everyone! =]


	10. Chapter 10

-Chapter 10

The blue flames fly by me. I feel the extremely hot heat touch my skin and I'm immediately sweating. If I didn't know better, I would think just the heat itself could melt my skin off my bones. For a moment I was scared that the flames would melt the pillar I'm leaning against, but it's still strong and sturdy so I just pray that I just don't get eaten by the flames. Even Dee is terrified enough from the blue flames to stop arguing with me and just waits for the flames to disappear. I'm a little surprised that she's not yelling at me or trying to throw me into the fire, but whatever I still hold onto her because I don't want someone to die for no reason, even if they're trying to kill me.

The flames continue for minutes and I'm wondering when it'll finally stop. I hear screams of agony and pain. When the flames finally die down I look from the side of the pillar and find several bodies burned to the bone and magma forming from the flames. I release Dee and she has a mortified look on her face as she looks around at the scorched scenery. Several others who have endured the attack start coming out of their hiding spots and scan the damaged area. Resistance members and the army alike are looking at the damage.

"Retreat!"I hear someone order. I see all of the surviving army members, including Dee run towards a helicopter. Before Dee enters the helicopter she shoots a look at me. I can't really explain what kind of look it is, it's something along the lines of disbelief and betrayal.

The army helicopter flies away, but I see the shadow of the Pokémon cast over me. I see the flames rain down from above and I dodge and roll to a safe spot behind another pillar. I know several of the Resistance members are dodging too and with the screams that erupt in the air, I know a lot of them are injured or dead.

"Lugia, we could use your help now," I say in my mind.

Without replying, the Lugia rises from the fog that surrounds the mountains. He soars high into the sky and lets out a powerful stream of water to counter the blue flames. Lugia was able to get rid of the majority of the flames, but the blue flames re-spawn when the wavy silhouette of a Pokémon continues to breathe out its intense fires.

The flames disappear after another powerful stream of water from Lugia. As I look for Lugia, I find his silhouette battle the wavy Pokémon in the air. The two are trading seemingly powerful attacks in the air. When I look more closely, I think I can see someone standing on top of the wavy Pokémon's head.

"Get to the helicopters!" I hear a Resistance member order. I find the survivors of the attack run for the edges of the area. A few helicopters rise from the fog and the Resistance members jump into the helicopters.

Instead of following the Resistance members, I stay stationary and watch. I did say that this will be the last thing I do for the Resistance, and it will be. I don't care if I get burned to death right now for not following the Resistance, they've put me through enough hell already so why not just let me burn it hell's flames then?

A bright shine shimmers at the edge of my vision. I quickly move to it and find an item that I wasn't expecting to be left behind. The Dark Stone. The Dark Stone in its mysterious glory was left behind. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but something so valuable, you would think they would take care of it more. Especially with a guy like Lance. Maybe he brought it with him so it would activate, but who knows at this point?

"Come on Noxis!" I hear someone yell at me. When I turn back to find who called for me I find that it wasn't just a single person, but almost everyone who was in the helicopter with me calling to me; save for Grey because of his aloof personality, although he was there looking at me.

I simply shake my head and walk to the opposite edge. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I just don't want to be a part of this war. I continue watching Lugia fight off the wavy Pokémon until finally the wavy Pokémon flies away. Lugia descends down towards me and I'm lifted into the air with his psychic powers. As Lugia puts me on his back I can see the light scorch marks, scratches, and blood on him.

"You okay Lugia?" I ask loudly.

Lugia starts flapping and flies high into the air. He nods lightly and says, "I will be fine, don't worry about me. Where would you like to go?"

"Just take me somewhere away from here," I say, hoping that I won't see the Resistance any time soon.

Night fell when Lugia flew me to the Unova region. I end up in Nimbasa City, which is a really festive city with colorful lights and nice city scenery that makes me feel like I'm more in my element. Luckily it was nighttime so not a lot of people were around to see Lugia drop me off and take off to live the rest of his life.

Lugia's parting words echoed inside my head, "Remember your mortality, Noxis. No one person can accomplish great feats by themselves. A hero does not accomplish their heroics by themselves."

Even though it's a shame that Lugia left, considering he's a legendary Pokémon that I have as a friend and all, I'm kind of glad he's gone off to live his life. It's one less person or Pokémon to worry about hurting or getting in danger. I do have to thank him though, he saved me quite a few and has been a great help. It's an honor really, just to be able to connect with such a legendary Pokémon.

I stay in Nimbasa City for a week. It has a great atmosphere and I even go on the Ferris wheel a couple of times at night just to see the amazing lights that flash throughout the city. However, I usually spend most of my time in my room at the Pokémon Center staring at the Dark Stone. I'm sure Lance and everyone else is freaking out about the Dark Stone being lost and possibly in the army's hands. But since I have it, they don't have to worry about the army. If I ever encounter Lance or Volkner or the group that was with me in the helicopter, I'll be sure to give it to them. Honestly, the Dark Stone has been nothing but trouble for the Resistance.

In my week in Nimbasa City, I've helped around a bit by offering my ranger status in taming runaway Pokémon or just getting Pokémon to calm down. I usually help the Nurse Joys of the Pokémon Centers by helping them clean or just work, but Unova Nurse Joys are so high tech that they don't need actual people to do most of their work. But somehow I was able to convince the Nurse Joy to let me help her with healing Pokémon to let me stay in the Pokémon Center for a lower price.

On days that I don't really do much, but wander around the city with Typhlosion, I tend to go to the sporting arenas or amusement park just for the hell of it. Sometimes, if the show sounds interesting enough, I go to the musical theatre. Nimbasa City is filled with tons of things to do and I'm really jealous of the technology here compared to Johto, specifically my hometown of Mahogany. As the days pass, however, I begin to notice the increase of security around the city. Not necessarily the army, but there are a lot more officers and authorities out and about.

One night, as I was coming home from helping a little girl get her Purrloin off of the roller coaster track I found a note lying on the ground near my door. I was expecting it to be a note from Nurse Joy saying that she needs more help or even a death threat or something, but instead I find this.

Dear Noxis,

Please meet me in the Pinwheel Forest tomorrow as the sun sets. I will be in the Rumination Field of the forest, I have something very important to ask you.

It's signed as a "New Friend" and has very neat, legible handwriting that could only be from a female. I fold the note up and put it in my pocket and I take a moment to think about the offer. I doubt that I'll be encountering a Resistance member because how in the hell would they know I'm here? And I don't think this can be a ploy from the army because they also wouldn't know I'm here too. I guess I'm safe if I go, but I can't be too sure. It takes me a few minutes to finally get to the conclusion of that I'll go to this meeting, but I'll arrive earlier and hide to see who the person is. After watching a few shows on the television, I fall asleep.

The usual nightmares attack my sleep and this time it's filled with the blue flames of that wavy Pokémon I saw at Mount Coronet. Even in my sleep I can feel the extremely hot flames that can burn the flesh off of my bones. If I were to get touched by those flames, I'd die instantly.

I wake up to the melodic chirps of Pidoves outside the window of my room. I make a slow start of the morning as I slowly get into the shower and wash myself clean of my nighttime collected grime and dirt. I still have time before I go to the Pinwheel Forest to meet up with this mystery person, but I don't have too much time because it'll take a while to get there by Honchkrow. And I really don't want to walk through that small desert just to get to the forest.

After gathering everything I need, since I'm pretty sure I'll be staying in Castelia City after the meeting, I say goodbye to the Nurse Joy after eating a very satisfying meal for lunch and move outside. A nice breeze floats by and I see nothing, but a clear sky with a beating sun above me. A couple of Nimbasa locals are wandering about. I'll admit that I'll miss the city since there are so many attractions and things to do, but Castelia is even bigger so it has a better atmosphere. Hell, the city even has a slums part to it, which I can fit right into. I call Typhlosion back into his Pokeball and take out Honchkrow's.

I unleash Honchkrow and she caws loudly. "To the Pinwheel Forest Honchkrow," I say as her talons wrap around my forearm. She lifts me into the air and we're already on our way.

As Honchkrow and I fly over the city and as we're overlooking the routes and roads, I can say that Unova is extremely symmetrical with a lot of bridges that connect cities together. It's pretty green with nice blue waters surrounding it. If I had the choice to live in any region except for Johto, I would live in Unova. The region just seems to fit me more than anywhere else. But it can't ever beat my home region of Johto.

In the far distance and I can see the skyscrapers of Castelia City. My body is over the blue waters and Honchkrow doesn't seem tired at all, which is good. We're getting close to the forest, but we still have a ways to go, so I enjoy the skyscrapers of Castelia. I can only imagine what it would look like when it's nighttime and all of those city lights will turn on. Something about bright lights surrounded by the abyss of darkness really attracts me like a bug to light. In the further distance I can see the Skyarrow Bridge which, I think, is the largest bridge in the Unova region. It's pretty cool, but it must be a pain to walk on though. Just looking at it and judging by its size, I know it can offer great exercise with a great deal of pain too.

Honchkrow and I get closer the forest and we fly close to the Skyarrow Bridge. The bridge has very fine details engraved in its light blue skin. The architecture is amazing and beautiful. The person who built this thing truly had a great image in their head and made it a reality.

After arriving at the end of the bridge, Honchkrow flies over a lustrous green forest that is filled with people and Pokémon. Honchkrow descends and I call her back into her Pokeball after she sets me down. There's a main pathway that leads straight through the forest, but there are several other pathways that lead into the depths of the forest. When I was in the air, I saw a small field of greenery that had no trees. I slowly make my way onto the path that I think leads to the Rumination Field.

I pull out Typhlosion's Pokeball and release him into the forest. "Come on Ty," I say as I walk into the forest.

Typhlosion and I wander around the forest a bit and take in the scent and scenery. The forest has a nice aroma of greenery, flowers, and berries. I know Typhlosion is enjoying by the way he's taking in deep breaths. Every once in a while I'll run into a patch of flowers that smell horrid. A few grass and bug Pokémon wander the forest as well, climbing on trees and scattering into bushes. Due to the presence of Typhlosion, a lot of the Pokémon are scared of his flames, but he doesn't mean any harm unless he's provoked. The forest seems like a sanctuary for the Pokémon. I'm pretty jealous. Sure I haven't really encountered any trouble lately, but to just be carefree and live a full life, I envy that kind of lifestyle.

Finally, Typhlosion and I find our way to the field of greenery that I saw when I was in the air. No one is in the area, but myself and Typhlosion. There's a pretty tall tree that can keep both myself and Typhlosion hidden. I move to the tree and I motion for Typhlosion to climb up first and I follow quickly after. We climb onto a rather thick branch that's strong enough to support us both, but any sudden strong movement can cause it to break.

I know I wanted to arrive early, but I think I arrived a little too early. I can still see the sun's rays touch the grass and trees. Here, in the Rumination Field, it's pretty isolated from the main road, so the person who called me here has to have a good reason. Though, I'm still wondering how they knew I was in Nimbasa City and in that specific room of the Pokémon center. Whatever the case, I hope the person comes soon.

Somehow I manage to take a small nap in the tree. I only wake up because Typhlosion nudges my arm. When I slowly open my eyes I find that the sun is setting and the sky is a pleasant orange. When I look onto the field I find someone that I didn't expect.

"Dee? She's the one that gave me the note?" I murmur as I hesitate to climb down the tree.

Dee isn't in her army uniform and her hair is down. She's wearing a long-sleeved, off the shoulder black shirt that hugs her slender body. Under her shirt is a thin white shirt that covers her breast that would be semi-exposed if the shirt weren't there. Dark jeans are held up by a black belt with black shoes at the feet. Dee's hair is long and a nice brown with purple highlights at the tips. Her hair is parted to the side and part of her left eye is covered by her hair. Clinging onto her shoulders is a rather large backpack that looks pretty heavy. She looks a lot better in this than she does in her army uniform. Seriously, she's really good looking in casual clothes. For some reason, my heart is pounding. I'm not nervous because she's here; really, I'm not sure why I'm nervous.

I slowly climb down the tree and when I land on the grass, Dee looks straight at my direction. I see a smile on her face and she walks towards me. "I'm glad you came Noxis," she says to me in a warm tone.

Strange… I never thought she'd be so friendly to me. Especially with how we met and all. "Why did you call me here? Better question, how did you know I was in Nimbasa City?" I ask.

"There were some people talking about a guy in ranger clothes helping around the city. So I went to Nimbasa City and saw you help a family by getting their Lillipups back. I talked to Nurse Joy and she said you were staying there so that's how I found you," Dee answers. My ranger clothes? I really need to find some new clothes. Dee continues, "and I called you here to tell you that I quit the army."

My eyes widen and I ask, "You what?"

"I quit the army," Dee repeats with a smile of relief and joy, "I asked the Sergeants and Captains about why we're fighting with the Resistance and they wouldn't tell me. I continued to ask them and they finally told me about what they plan to do with Pokémon. The bastards even have a legendary Pokémon at their disposal already! I left as soon as I could."

So she left as soon as she figured out what was going on. Smart of her, but wasn't it hasty? Is she sure the army isn't on her tail right now? "So why did you try to contact me?" I ask.

"I…I want to travel with you. I mean, you have survived most of your life being chased and you're always up and about throughout each region, so I thought traveling with you will be better than going back to my hometown," she replies with the same smile.

I lightly scoff and say, "I'm flattered that you want to travel with me, but you don't want to be mixed up in my kind of crowd or atmosphere. You'll be in more trouble than ever if you decide to go along with me."

Instead of being disheartened at my response, she retains that smile and says, "I'm not going to take no for an answer. I don't care that you have a hard life and I don't care that you might cause danger and harm towards me, I am going with you."

I sigh deeply as I stare straight into Dee's eyes. I can sense her passion and strong urge to follow me. Naturally, I would continue to deny, but Dee is a girl that is stubborn. Even when we were fighting I could tell she was stubborn and wouldn't take no for an answer. I reluctantly let out, "Fine, but I warned you. And your Liepard can come along too."

I feel a fur brush against my leg and initially I thought it was Typhlosion, but when I look it's Dee's Liepard. Honestly, I didn't know her Liepard was behind me at all, but it makes me look cooler.

Dee's smile becomes wider and she says, "Great. I can't wait to start our journey."

Dee and her Liepard walks away and I slowly follow. I shake my head and sigh deeply at the situation I was put in.

"What's gonna happen Ty? What's gonna happen?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! I just wanted to quickly say thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, and supports this story. Honestly, it makes writing each word of each chapter more enjoyable. I also want to say that since Persona 4: Arena is coming out in the U.S. soon (Tuesday!) I'll be training/playing it a lot, so updates may vary; I also want to make Persona 4: Arena the fighting game that I'll be competitive at in tournaments, but of course I'll be playing it for all the fun and glory. Anyways, again, I want to say thanks to all of you that read and support. You guys are awesome! =]


	11. Chapter 11

-Chapter 11

Dee and I travel out of the depths of forest and instead of going on the Skyarrow Bridge, we go to Nacrene City. Upon first glance, I would think Nacrene City is a really strange and peculiar city since it has a strong fusion of several art trends in one city. Some of the paintings that are hung around the city and statues that are custom made are pretty good if you look at them individually, but with the cityscape, each piece of art really collides with one another. My eyes are always drawn to the amazing graffiti that is painted along warehouses and buildings; I don't exactly understand why people think graffiti is so bad.

After traveling throughout the city and looking at a large majority of art and culture clash, Dee and I end up at the Pokémon center and we get a room to stay in for the night. As soon as we make it to our room, Dee quickly goes into the bathroom to take a shower. I'm left with Liepard and Typhlosion in a two-bed room accompanied with a television. If it weren't for the televisions in the Pokémon centers, I think I would've gone crazy out of boredom.

I turn on the television and notice the current show is about some sort of group of heroes that have the Eevee evolutions as their Pokémon and they fight evil. The program is geared towards children and I used to watch it when I was a kid. However, I quickly change the channel to find anything else interesting at this time of night. As I search for something to watch on the television, my eyes wander to Typhlosion and Liepard because I start noticing how Liepard is trying to get close to Typhlosion. If only that cruel Pokémon knew that my Typhlosion doesn't really like the company of anyone else, but me and my team.

After a few minutes of watching the television Dee comes out of the bathroom and says, "Ah, it's a relief to feel clean. Are you going to shower?"

Initially I declined because I showered before I left, but now that I think about it. I have a slight musk of nature revolving around me, and it's not a pleasant scent. I move off of the bed and retrieve my clothes before heading into the shower. The bathroom is slightly steamy from Dee's shower and has a scent of shampoo mixed with flowers; she must have used the liquid scents that these showers have installed in them.

I strip out of my ranger clothes and proceed to take a shower. I make do with a quick shampoo rinse in my hair and a light coat of soap over my body. Honestly, I just want to get the musk off of me. I exit the shower and put on the clothes to find that I somehow forgot to bring my shirt in with me. I sigh, not that I'm uncomfortable with my body, I'm just slightly shy when it comes to people seeing my upper body. Sure I have a lean muscle stature from all of my years of ninja and ranger practice, but that doesn't remedy my shyness.

I finally suck it up and walk out of the bathroom. Unfortunately my bag is on the complete opposite side of the room. I make haste to get to my bag and I intentionally avoid looking at Dee. My hands go through my bag and I can't find my shirt. I don't want to believe it so I continue searching for it. When I finally decide to admit defeat, I must have left it back in Sunyshore or something, I sigh deeply and turn around to find Dee staring straight at me. Dee has her hand over her mouth and I can hear her slightly giggling. Her cheeks are a little red and she continues to stare.

"H-hey, don't embarrass me by staring like that!" I scold. I'm not really used to having girls stare at my body like this. My heart's beating kind of rapidly now, probably because of the embarrassment Dee briefly put me through.

"Sorry," Dee laughed, "I didn't know someone like you was so easily embarrassed."

I grit my teeth and I try to calmly speak, "With how you're staring, how could I not be?" I'm trying not to get the embarrassment get to me, but I can't help but be a little flustered with a woman staring at me.

"Well with your body, you shouldn't worry," Dee replied.

She just had to say that didn't she? Sure I may have a generally nice body and all that fun stuff, but I'd rather be covered up. Hell, I can't believe Dee is saying this. Considering the circumstance of how we met and how we continued to meet up, I'd think she'd scoff at the idea to somewhat make a move on me.

"Anyways, we'll go shopping in Castelia City tomorrow, you need some new clothes so you don't look all that suspicious in your ranger gear. From Castelia we'll go on the ship and go straight to the Hoenn region," Dee said, making the plans for us before I even get to know them.

"So soon?" I ask, not that I don't want to leave, it's just that it all seems very hasty.

"The army has been setting up several soldiers throughout Unova because the base of the army is in the Unova region, so it's best we get out of here. Not only are you being hunted, I'm pretty sure they'll want me too since I know their secrets," Dee answered. Now that she mentions it, before I left Nimbasa City I did notice a lot of security around.

"Alright, when we get to Hoenn we'll figure things out," I say as I sit on the bed, still slightly flustered from the fact that I'll be shirtless for the night.

Dee nods to confirm and she returns to watching the television. Night falls quickly and Dee and her Liepard are the first to fall asleep. Of course, Typhlosion and I are the last to take in the deep night slumber. The nightmares I have this time are mostly being hunted down by some sort of shadows equipped with firearms. I'm running through a dark forest that never seems to end and I can see bullets flying by.

When I awaken, the morning has come and I can hear Pidoves singing outside. I'm completely soaked in sweat, guess the nightmare caused a lot of stress and adrenaline over the night. I look around and find Typhlosion tiredly awake and somewhat ignoring Dee's Liepard which is purring slyly. I look at Dee's bed and find her absent, but I hear the shower running.

I just lie down on the bed and wait for Dee to finish. As much as I would love to sleep some more, my body always refuses to let me whenever I wake up. After I hear the shower stop and Dee entering the door in a fresh new outfit for the day, I quickly enter the bathroom to take a shower myself. As I brush by Dee, I hear her give a morning greeting which I mutter in return.

I take a quick shower and equip myself with my usual ranger gear. I'm pretty glad that Dee suggested to go shopping after we leave, I really do need to get some new clothes, but that doesn't mean I'll part with my ranger gear. As horrible the memories the ranger gear may bring, being a ranger has been a large part of my life so far. I can't simply part with something that has been a major factor for me so far. Even with the bad things that have happened, I can't really say I regret becoming a ranger.

When I exit the shower I see Dee putting her hair up and getting ready for our departure. She turns to me and says, "We'll immediately go to Castelia city to do some quick shopping, then we'll catch a ship their and head our way out of this region from there."

Seems like she planned everything out for us. "Alright," I reply, "let's head out then." I grab my bag, motion for Typhlosion to come along, and move towards the door.

Dee quickly follows Typhlosion with her Liepard. We move to the entrance of the Pokémon Center and give our keys back to Nurse Joy. We leave and welcome the morning air. Even in the early morning there's some eerie sensation in the air that makes this city really strange. A few people flood the streets to get to work, and I'm able to pinpoint a few soldiers that wander with the people.

Dee says to me, "Let's hurry, if the army spots either one of us, we're going to have a bad time."

"How do you insist that we get to Castelia quickly? We'll have to cross a bridge that'll take a good hour or two," I reply.

Dee stares at me and suggests, "Don't you have flying Pokémon that can just fly us there?"

Honchkrow is my usual, and personal, means of transportation by air. I rarely ever have Gliscor or Scizor, paired with the move Tailiwind, to help me travel. What choice do I have now? "Yeah, yeah," I murmur. I pull out three Pokeballs, one belonging to Typhlosion and the other two are Honchkrow and Gliscor. A red light envelops Typhlosion and pulls him into the Pokeball. Dee follows my actions and pulls her Liepard back into its Pokeball. Two lights emerge from me other two Pokeballs. Honchkrow lets out a melodious yawn as Gliscor immediately hovers into the air. "I'll need you two to fly us to Castelia, got it?" I ask my Pokémon. I take what I think are nods from the Big Boss and Fang Scorp Pokémon as validation. "Gliscor you carry Dee on your back, Honchkrow you'll be taking me."

Honchkrow flaps her wings and flies a little above me. Gliscor hovers over to Dee and Dee quickly climbs on, I'm pretty surprised that she didn't question the way she has to be carried. Honchkrow's talons latch around my arms and I'm lifted into the air. "Tailwind, both of you," I order my Pokémon. I feel a powerful gust of wind carry me into the air with Honchkrow and we're propelling through the air.

Nacrene City begins to shrink and a long horizon grows wider as I continue to fly with Honchkrow. I look back to find Dee smiling and admiring the view from Gliscor's back. We fly beside the Skyarrow bridge and see several vehicles travel on its roads. In the distance I can see the tall cityscape of Castelia City. Judging by how fast we're flying, it'll take approximately twenty to thirty minutes to reach the busy city. For the time being, I just enjoy the temporary peace I'll have and admire the amazing view of Unova.

We arrive in Castelia City and garner a few looks, but a person flying in with their Pokémon isn't a rare sight. I call Honchkrow and Gliscor back into their Pokeballs. I take in the city scent and scenery. I honestly wish I live here, being one within the city crowd and not having to worry about someone having to be on my back at all times. I truly envy the average person.

"We'll go to the Central Shopping Center real quick to get you into some new clothes, you'll stand out in your Ranger gear," Dee instructs as she walked into a street surrounded by tall skyscrapers.

It's not like she's wrong, I really will stand out. It's not rare to see a ranger, but people tend to give rangers a second look whenever we're nearby. "Let's make it quick, you said they're upping the security, it's better we hurry."

Dee only nods to reply and we quickly walk into the Central Shopping Center, which, similar to its skyscraper neighbors, is a gigantic building that boasts extreme shininess. Inside, there's a refreshing breeze and feminine smell that swoops into the air. There are a few people on each floor Dee and I travelled too, it's pretty early so it makes sense for there to be so few people. Dee and I split up so we can find our own respective clothing. Since we're in a rush, I quickly find a sleeveless, red hoodie with red and white plaid shorts that has red suspenders that come with it. In all honesty, the hoodie and shorts don't differ from my ranger gear all too much, just the more plain appearance makes the difference.

I quickly search the floor for Dee and I find her with a couple pair of clothes that are too bunched up together for me to differentiate what's what. Dee stood next to a counter with a young female cashier on the opposite side. Dee motions me to her and I move towards her. I place my clothes on top of hers and the cashier scans the tags attached to my clothes. "The total is sixty-four dollars and seventy-two cents," the cashier says to us, followed with a yawn.

"Here," I say as I pull out my ID that contains information of my ranger status. As a ranger, you're given discounts on things, it's not much of a discount, but it lightens the blow on my wallet.

"Okay, with the ranger discount it will come to fifty-one dollars and seventy-eight cents," the cashier told us.

I pull out my wallet and take out the necessary amount of money. My eyes quickly glance at Dee and she seemed surprise by either the fact I'm paying or that my ranger discount works, or because I actually have enough money. I hand the money to the cashier and say, "Keep the change."

The cashier folds our clothes neatly into a bag and hands it to me, "Have a good day."

"You too," I say, then motioning for Dee to follow me.

We don't have time to change, and I'm sure Dee knows that. We rush our way down to the first floor and we fight against an onslaught of a crowd on the streets just to get to the pier. When we arrive at the pier we see several massive ships resting on the ocean's surface. Dee leads me to a large ship colored in navy and white. The most attractive feature of the ship is the large deck that can hold a numerous amount of people.

Dee and I approach a sailor who stands at the feet of a set of stairs that lead into the ship. Dee takes out her wallet and shows the man some sort of badge. The sailor nods and allows us to climb the stairs and enter the ship. "What did you show him?" I ask Dee.

"My army badge. We get special treatment when it comes to travel and lodge," Dee replies with a smile. I guess there's plenty of perks for being in the army, though I really wouldn't consider being in the army myself.

The initial entrance of the ship is some dark corridor with very dim lighting. I can hardly see Dee in front of me. If it weren't for her holding onto my wrist, I think I would've been wandering around in darkness by myself. Eventually, Dee and I find our way up to the deck where we find a few other passengers as well. The deck has a small pool with several lounging chairs near it. On both ends of the deck, there are entrances into the rooms for slumber.

"We should get changed first," Dee says. I nod and we quickly enter a door that leads to a set of stairs that spiral down floors of long hallways.

We manage to find a floor and enter the first vacant room we could find. The outside of each room has a sign that tells any passenger if the room is vacant or taken. Almost immediately upon entering the room, I switch the vacant sign to taken. The room is pretty compact with a single bed, a television facing the bed, a couple of chairs, and a bathroom. There's a slight pungent scent in the air, but it's not too troublesome. I place the bag on the bed and both Dee and I grab our respective clothes. "I'll change out here," I offer. I'm just hoping she doesn't open the door while I'm in the middle of changing though.

Dee nods and says, "Okay." She enters the bathroom and I immediately start changing.

I strip out of my ranger clothes and place them into the bag. I equip the plaid shorts and suspenders and sleeveless hoodie. My capture styler remains on my wrist and I equip the same belt with the pouch of my Pokémon around my waist despite the fact I have suspenders. I transfer any necessary items from my pile of ranger clothes to this fresh new one. It feels like tons of dirt has been lifted off of my body and I was just cleaned for the first time. How in the world did I manage to travel in my ranger clothes for so long without feeling like I should lie down and be part of the dirt on the earth?

A few minutes after I finish changing, Dee exits the bathroom. My heart suddenly beats loudly when my eyes see her in her new outfit. Hanging onto a single shoulder was a white shirt with some sort of blue graphical design. Inside the shirt was a black undershirt to make sure her breasts aren't exposed. Dark, ripped jeans hug her legs. Shining earrings pierced through her ears and compliment the brightness of her eyes.

If Dee didn't say, "How do I look?" I would have been completely lost in thought and mesmerized by her appearance. She's dressed casually and has a street look.

"How do I look?" Dee repeats.

I shake my head and reply, "Oh, you look fine." She looks more than fine, but I'd rather keep my comments to myself.

Dee lightly giggles at me. "Thanks, you don't look to bad yourself," Dee says. "Come on, let's go to the deck and look at the ocean. It'll be better than be cooped up in this room."

I nod and we leave the room. We resurface to the deck and we find a lot more passengers than earlier. Several passengers have fancied themselves to jump in the pool and take advantage of the rather relaxing ship. Many of the passengers' Pokémon have been released to make the enjoyment happen for everyone. It's been a while since I have ever felt like I didn't have to watch my back every second. Dee and I move to a metallic railing that guarded people from falling off the deck. Down below is the ocean that gently waves and hits the docks. People are still getting in the ship, so we have to wait. In the ocean's horizon, I see a few aquatic Pokémon playfully jump out of the water.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Dee murmurs, she takes out a Pokeball and summons Liepard to her feet. Liepard yawns and rubs its face against Dee's leg. "Liepard loves the rocking of ships," Dee says with a smile as she looks down to her Pokémon. She briefly looks at me and asks, "Are you going to let Typhlosion or any of your Pokémon out?"

I shake my head. "No, they hate ships," I reply bluntly.

"Why?" Dee asks.

"It's a long story," I say.

Dee stares at me with her mesmerizing eyes. "We have time," she says.

I lightly chuckle. The very memory isn't that pleasant, but it's extremely unpleasant for my Pokémon. The story isn't exactly secretive nor is it something I'm ashamed of, it's just one of those stories that you'd rather forget than remember. Ultimately I decide to tell Dee, it'll kill time anyway. "Fine, let me know when you get bored though. It all started when I was tricked to getting on a ship by ghost Pokémon."

The ominous ship swayed to the waves of the dark ocean. Fog wrapped tightly around the ship, concealing the many dangers that lurk within its stomach. Each movement of the ship caused echoing creaks to travel down the fearful maze of corridors. Pipes were broken and leaked out scorching steam. Around every corner the chilling presence of danger lurked by.

I ran through the thick fog as the cackles of Gengars, Banettes, and Mismagius' haunt me. I turned at an intersection of corridors to find a Gengar laughing at my face. I immediately turn around to find a Duskull taunting me. None of my Pokémon are with me, they're somewhere on this ship and I have to find them. I dodged the Duskull and continued to run through the fog that sends chilling jolts through my body. I ran through the dark corridors again and when I finally find a door, I open it and hope that none of the ghost Pokémon pursues me in here.

Instead, I find one of my Pokémon shaking in fear as they witness their own memories. I'm in the depths of the abyssal ocean. I can breathe properly, but I find Chinchou swimming for her dear life. She cried out, terrified and scared. I call out to her, but my voice didn't reach her. I ran to her, but my movement didn't progress forward. I hear a Haunter laughing at Chinchou's misery. This must be all an illusion set up by these ghost Pokémon.

Chinchou swims rapidly away from some shadow at the deeper end of the ocean. The shadow quickly grew into a large one and revealed itself to be a Wailord. The Wailord's mouth opened widely and nearly ate Chinchou. This must be what Chinchou is afraid of, being eaten alive by the biggest Pokémon in the world. Chinchou swam swiftly towards my direction. The Wailord opened its mouth again and went in for another bite. Chinchou nearly evaded Wailord's teeth. Once Chinchou was within reaching distance, I jump and grab her. She flails around with terror.

"Chinchou, calm down. This is an illusion," I attempted to console the Angler Pokémon. Chinchou continued to thrash in my arms, as if she was still trying to escape the Wailord. I squeeze Chinchou and repeat with a much louder tone, "Chinchou! This is an illusion!"

I hear a buzz then the electrical jolt flows through my body. I let out a cry of pain. Chinchou must be thinking he's fighting the Wailord. I hold onto Chinchou as tightly as I can, hoping to snap her out of this illusion. During the electrical shock, I feel a vibration pressing against my chest and a light blue glow surrounds Chinchou. Slowly, Chinchou settles down and relaxes in my arms. I breathe heavily after enduring a painful electrical shock that coursed throughout my body. Chinchou cries out to me and I realize that the ocean's depths and the Wailord are gone.

"Are you okay Chinchou?" I ask the angler Pokémon. She nods to confirm. "Do you understand that being attacked by that Wailord was an illusion?" She nods again. "Good, let's look for the others, we have to hurry and get out of here." I don't know what it was that snapped Chinchou out of her illusion, but I don't have the time to worry about it right now.

I open the door and prepare to run at full speed to the next available door. As I run, I hear the haunting shrieks and laughs of the Ghost Pokémon that terrorize this ship. When I turn a corner I find a Duskull staring straight at me with its single eye that sways back and forth like a pendulum. I swiftly dodge the Duskull and continue running. I find a door the creaks before a possible corner to turn at. I enter it and find myself in the wilderness.

Tall trees and amazing greenery surround me. The dawning sun seeps through the leaves of the trees and I can nearly smell the lovely aroma that these flowers could give off. Too bad this is an illusion, I would love to wander a forest without any care right about now. I hear a wave of chirps and cries from Pokémon. I look into the depths of the trees and I find a barrage of Pokémon running towards my direction. Chinchou flinched at first, but she remembered that everything was an illusion. Within the barrage of Pokémon, I find my Honchkrow quickly flying with other Flying-type Pokémon.

A blazing flame quickly overpowered the forest and everything that was once beautiful was now burning into dreaded ashes. Honchkrow's fear and memory, she must have been escaping this fire. I hear gunshots and silhouettes of people armed with rifles emerged from the fire. Bullets whizz though the air and I find several Pokémon falling from the sky, bleeding and crying out. Many Rattata, Sentret, and Nidorans fall victim to the bullets. If an unfortunate Pokémon didn't fall from the bullets, then it was consumed by the flames.

This horrific scene was too much for me and I almost vomit on the spot. So much death of innocent Pokémon. The silhouettes slowly walk closer to me and I finally know who these guys are. Pokémon Poachers. People who terrorize Pokémon to harvest anything that they can sell. Pokémon Poachers are almost the exact opposite of what a Pokémon Ranger is, and it disgusts me. So Honchkrow had to escape from not only a forest fire, but Pokémon Poachers too?

My eyes return to Honchkrow and she's flying rapidly in the air, crying out every time a fellow Pokémon falls. The bullets fly to her and she dodges them with fearful flaps of her wings. A bullet scrapes her wing and her flying begins to become bumpy. I run with Chinchou towards Honchkrow and I have to jump up and reach her several times until I can pull her down. However, every time I get a hand on her, she was able to escape.

"I don't want to do this, but Chinchou, give Honchkrow a slight shock to knock her out of this illusion," I order Chinchou.

Chinchou hesitated at first, it's understandable, I ordered her to attack her own friend and teammate. However, Chinchou knows that to help Honchkrow, she'll have to follow my orders. An electrical jolt flies towards Honchkrow and she cries out and the scene of the wildfire and poachers fades away. Honchkrow falls from the sky and I catch in my arms. Her eyes are still opened and I ask her, "Are you okay Honchkrow?" She caws to confirm and flaps her wings and takes a little bit of flight. Her talons grip my shoulder and I take Chinchou into my arms and I escape this room.

Once again, I start running. Honchkrow takes flight and flies beside me. Now that I have my Dark-type Pokémon back on me, she will start retaliating against the Ghost Pokémon that wants to haunt us. First to fall victim to Honchkrow's dark attacks is a Gastly that fizzled into pure mist when Honchkrow literally drilled through it. Down each long corridor, Honchkrow defends me and Chinchou until I find another door that leads me into a city street.

Saffron City, this must be Scyther's memory, I remember finding him in Saffron City a few years ago. The city was being drenched by the roaring rainclouds that blanket the sky. The street was practically empty from people and Pokémon; I remember this exact street, but not this event. I hear Scyther's cries and he's tossed onto the wet sidewalk from an alley. A man dressed in a trench coat moved towards Scyther from the alley and he starts to slap and punch Scyther's already bruised and beaten body.

I want to help Scyther defeat this man, but I know I can't. Scyther was practically defenseless and he didn't retaliate in any way. All Scyther did was take the abuse and cry within the rain. I feel bad that I have to contribute more damage to Scyther in order for him to snap out of this illusion, but it's the only way to save him from this horrible past he had to live through.

"Honchkrow use Aerial Ace on Scyther, be gentle though," I order the darkness Pokémon.

Honchkrow nods and caws. She flies towards Scyther with quick speed and tackles him. I see the city slightly fading, but it quickly came back to full scenery. Honchkrow tackles Scyther again and more of the city fades away with each hit. It took Honchkrow a few hits on Scyther for the city to fade away and end the illusion. Scyther looks around and stands on his feet. He sees me and runs towards me with a smile on his face and, now joyful, tears running down his face.

I give Scyther a hug and say, "It's okay Scyther, it's okay. Rest in your Pokeball." I pull out Scyther's Pokeball and the red light absorbs him. "Let's go," I order Honchkrow and Chinchou. We escape this room and continue onto our next door.

The race to the next door was a lot smoother because the Ghost Pokémon are starting to back away because of Honchkrow. There are those who are brave enough to approach us, but Honchkrow immediately gets rid of them. I find the next door stationed next to large swinging chains. I enter and find myself in a large slope of snow, Mount Silver.

My Pupitar was somewhat hidden under a snowy cliff. In front of my Pupitar was a large Tyranitar fighting against some poachers. The poachers launched several static webs at the Tyranitar, attempting to take it down and capture it. The Tyranitar thrashed in fury, shredding the webs. Ultimately, the Tyranitar grew more fatigued and was brought down by the poachers. Heavy orbs were attached to the webs to weight down the Tyranitar. The Tyranitar attempted to escape the net by releasing a charging hyper beam through it, but it lacked the strength and energy.

My eyes return to my Pupitar and I see him trembling in fear and his eyes are wide open and afraid. I'm guessing this Tyranitar is either Pupitar's mother or father or neither. Suddenly, Pupitar lets out a Dark Pulse. When the wave of dark energy flows towards me I get an image of Pupitar attacking the poachers. The snowy Mount Silver begins to fade away itself and an image of a Frillish statically appears from the fading Tyranitar. Pupitar seemed to realize that this entire thing was an illusion by the way he stopped trembling and focused on the fading image of the Tyranitar. Pupitar released another Dark Pulse and the entire snowy slope vanished and several Frillish appear and screech loudly.

Pupitar noticed my presence and he hops his way towards me. "Pupitar are you okay?" I ask the hard shell Pokémon. He nods and focuses on the Frillish. "Come on Pupitar, let's get rid of them."

Pupitar hops forward and prepares for battle. All of the Frillish let out Water Pulses and they all aimed at Pupitar. Pupitar dodged a few of the rings of water, but he was hit by a small remainder of them. Pupitar shrugged off the attack and continued forward. As Pupitar lunged forward his body became dark and he released another round of Dark Pulse. This time the energy was much more powerful and an image of Pupitar crushing, destroying, and decapitating each of the Frillish flashed before my eyes. Using the Dark Pulse to his advantage, Pupitar was ready to unleash his next devastating attack. Both Honchkrow and I read Pupitar's attack. I quickly grab Chinchou and Honchkrow picks me up into the air. Pupitar slams harshly onto the wooden floors and everything became chaotic.

Earthquake, an extremely devastating attack, literally almost destroyed the entire room. Dust and wooden planks fly in front of me. The sight of my Pupitar was completely covered and who knows what happened to those Frillish. I'm surprised the ship hasn't begun to sink from the Earthquake. Honchkrow lets my feet touch the floor and I cautiously travel into the dust. I see a bright light shine with a threatening roar following it. When the light subsides, so does the dust. In my sight I see a large Pokémon with spikes and a threatening frame. I smile as I realize my Pupitar has evolved into a Tyranitar. I can see Tyranitar's eyes look at me and a smirk forms at the edge of his lips. I look passed the Armor Pokémon and find the many Frillish lying on the ground.

Tyranitar slowly walks towards me. "Tyranitar, good job," I praise. Tyranitar grunts happily. "Come on, we have to find the others," I say, pulling out Tyranitar's Pokeball. The red light absorbs Tyranitar. I motion for Honchkrow and Chinchou to leave and I exit the room.

As I travel through the corridors, it seems like the Ghost Pokémon have finally realized how much of a threat I have become as I recover more and more of my Pokémon. I enter the next door and find myself at the outskirts of Blackthorn City.

Clouds blanket the sky, dimming the nature around me. No one was in sight and only a few Pokémon scattered throughout the tall grass. My eyes look at the sky and I find silhouettes battling each other. Slowly, the silhouettes descend and I see my Gligar battling a gang of Gligar and Gliscors. I remember this day when I met my Gligar. As a male Gligar, he has a stinger that is smaller than other male Gligars so he was constantly picked out because of it. I remember him escaping from these Gligars and Gliscors, but he ultimately was attacked and beaten until I came and helped him with Chinchou.

Unlike last time, Gligar has the upper hand and he seems to realize that these other Gligars and Gliscors are actually Ghost Pokémon playing tricks on him. Every time Gligar attacked the illusions of Gligars or Gliscors, the image of Gastly of Haunter would appear. The surrounding began to become distorted each time Gligar attacked.

"Honchkrow, attack the illusions and help Gligar out," I order the Big Boss Pokémon.

Honchkrow soars towards the Ghost Pokémon and attacks them with Night Slash. The surrounding disappeared and Gligar shook his head, wondering if he returned to reality. Together, Gligar and Honchkrow attacked the Gastly and Haunters until the last one fell from the sky and disappeared into thin air. Honchkrow and Gligar soar back down and I give Gligar a gentle rub on the head.

"Are you okay Gligar?" I ask. He nods. "Good, you can rest now." I pull out Gligar's Pokeball for him to rest in.

"Alright, let's go find Typhlosion now," I say to Honchkrow and Chinchou.

I return to the corridors and I realize the fog has lightened up, however the swaying of the ship has become a lot more violent. I find myself trying to keep my balance and holding onto the walls of the ship. The mist that spills out of broken pipes continues to violently spray out.

It takes me a while to get to the final door and once I enter I find myself in a familiar place. The root of all of the misfortunes that have been thrust onto me. This room is unusually hot, but I realize the heat comes from my partner Pokémon defending himself. The room is bright, the floor is made of shiny tiles. The walls are embedded with long counters that hold many medical utensils. Large electronic machines are placed throughout the room. In a spotlight was a long table covered with blood. Above the table was a large needle hooked to the ceiling. This room is the room where Typhlosion was experimented on as a Cyndaquil. The room wasn't an exact replica as I see a Jellicent emerging from the broken floor attacking my Typhlosion.

I knew my Typhlosion was smart enough to realize this room was an illusion, but I also knew it would be of this memory. My Typhlosion was quick on his feet and dodged every hit the Jellicent delivered. When given the opportunity, Typhlosion released a long string of flames at the Jellicent. Despite the type difference, Typhlosion's flames were able to damage the Jellicent. Typhlosion notices my presence and makes his way over while dodging attacks.

"Ty, glad you're okay," I greet the Volcano Pokémon. "Let's beat that thing and get off this ship." Typhlosion nods and readies himself for battle once more. "Great job Honchkrow and Chinchou, Typhlosion will take it from here." I grab Honchkrow's and Chinchou's respective Pokeballs and allow them to rest.

One of Jellicent's massive tentacles slams before Typhlosion. Typhlosion jumps onto the tentacle and runs along its length to reach the Jellicent's head. Typhlosion jumps towards the Jellicent and creates a fist with electricity jolting around it. A harsh punch made direct contact with the Jellicent. The Floating Pokémon bellows loudly enough to cause the ground to shake a bit. Typhlosion kicks off of the Jellicent's head and lands back onto the ground. Jellicent inhales deeply and releases a Hydro Pump which catches Typhlosions hind legs. Typhlosion quickly regains his momentum and counters with Will-O-Wisp. The blue flames shoot from Typhlosion's neck flames and quickly assault the Jellicent. A sparkling blue glow outlines the Jellicent and all of the battle damage that has been done do it disappears. The damn thing knows Recover.

"Shit," I mutter. "We have to take it down with a single hit Ty."

Before I can come up with an attack combo to defeat the Floating Pokémon, it attacks with an extremely pressurized and powerful blast of water. The range of the blast was too wide for Typhlosion to dodge in time so I automatically order, "Eruption!"

Typhlosion's neck flames ignite brighter and more vigorously. An intense flame erupts from his mouth and makes contact to the Jellicent's Water Spout attack. A massive amount of steam floats in the air from the collision of the fire and water attacks. Both the Eruption and Water Spout ends, but the Jellicent has a lot of vigor in it. Typhlosion is extremely tired and the Jellicent takes advantage of it. The Jellicent's tentacles go for Typhlosion and I can see the extreme force that Jellicent has on Typhlosion. Wring Out, I'm assuming. Unfortunately for the Jellicent, it's attacking Substitute of my Typhlosion. Each of my Pokémon know Substitute, it's only natural for me, a ninja disciple, to have all of my Pokémon know an escaping move.

"Wild Charge Ty, and combine it with Rollout and Flame Charge," I order.

The Jellicent is taken by complete surprise as it squishes a fake Typhlosion. My Typhlosion was charging straight towards the Jellicent at full force. With the speed boost of Flame Charge, violent rotation of Rollout, and devastating strength of Wild Charge, I'm sure the Jellicent will be defeated. A flaming trail follows my curled and electrically surrounded Typhlosion. I can hear the powerful impact of my Typhlosion's attack collide with the Jellicent. The Jellicent bellows against and falls deeper into the hole in the ground.

Typhlosion returns to the ground and I can hear him breathing heavily. "Great job Ty, rest. I'll get us all off this ship," I pull out Typhlosion's cherish ball and as soon as the light absorbs him, I take off running.

I the ship shakes violently and I can feel it beginning to tip over. Though the dark corridors and fog, I make it to the deck. The fog was a lot heavier here and I can hardly see in front of myself. In the dark sky I saw a silhouette of some large Pokémon in the moonlight. Its eyes glow a vibrant blue. The Pokémon had a melodic roar that was somehow able to send the fog away from me.

I run into the fog and hope to find the edge. The ship becomes more and more vertical and I slip on the slick deck. My face slams into the wood and I slide down, towards the dark water. My hands were too occupied to climb the slick deck to realize that I can call for Honchkrow to help me. I look down into the dark water and find glowing eyes that belong to the Jellicent that Typhlosion defeated. Not only was the ship becoming vertical, it was swirling into a giant whirlpool that the Jellicent created. I slide further down the deck, quickly inching to my doom. The blue glow slowly approaches me. My eyes become heavy and I try to fight to keep them open. Before I black out I see the blue eyes and hear the melodic roar. Vibrating against my chest is the Silver Wing.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I deeply apologize for this long overdue chapter! I have been occupied with school, gaming tournaments (I'm now a regular and part of the community), writing my other stories, and just living my life. I'll also admit that Dead or Alive 5 and Pokemon Black 2 are/will be taking over my life. Don't worry though, I am very adamant about finishing this story, even if it takes me forever. I hope you are all well and enjoy this chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

-Chapter 11

Throughout the duration of the ship ride, that lasted about a day and a half, I chose to look at the ocean horizon and water Pokémon that swam in the body of the vast ocean. Dee continuously attempted to get me to swim with her on the deck's swimming pools, but I refused each time. Though I did spend a long time lounging around the pools just to spend time with her. Honestly, I had fun spending time with her, especially in a carefree manner. It's not every day that I can just sit back and relax without having to worry that someone might attack me. Hell, the first night of the ship ride, Dee and I stayed up past the darkest of hours just talking about the most random subjects that each of us could come up with.

I even got to learn more about Dee. She has that very strong, feisty appearance and personality, but she's really kind and sensitive too. I honestly think that the strong, feisty side of her is just a cover and defense mechanism, kind of how my sarcasm works as a mechanism too. She even told me that she joined the army because it's a family tradition for someone to be in the army in each generation. Since she has no brothers, and she's the oldest child of three girls, she was influenced and somewhat forced, despite what she might say, to join the army. How she expresses her feelings about the army kind of tells me that she didn't enjoy it.

Although Dee opened up to me, I held back to her. I gave her a few details of my life, mostly about my childhood and stuff. Aside from the minor details of my life, I didn't really progress into my ranger years and the years of my status of a fugitive. Sure, I told her about the haunted ship incident, but that's about it. It's not that I don't trust her, it's just that I don't trust her.

The ship docks on the harbor of Slateport City. Dee and I gather our things and wander the people-filled harbor. A sandy beach filled with people branched all along the coast. The sapphire blue waters brushed onto the beach and ran for miles and miles into the horizon. It's extremely hot and the sun is heating up my body. I can feel the few beads of sweat beginning to fall down my forehead. I hear harmonious laughter from happy people that are spending their days at the beach. I look to the side and find a smiling family, joyous and cheerful. Sure wish I could have had that kind of life.

Dee and I wander into the city and everyone is dressed accordingly to the weather. I can smell a few aromatic whiffs of food, too bad that we ate before the ship docked. Lively faces with a vibrant sun, this place just seems like such a nice place to live in. The atmosphere here is pretty relaxing, but I guess that's the type of environment that comes with living near the sea.

"Where do we go from here?" I ask Dee.

Dee puts a finger to her lips and looks at the clear sky. She hums, "Hmm… We should spend a few days here, it is a really nice place and I'm sure no one from either the army or Resistance will come looking for us here unless one of the Hoenn Gym Leaders happens to come by."

I don't mind that plan, this place is nice and I'd rather not part from it any time soon. Since I don't think anyone is going to be searching for us any time soon, I nod to agree with Dee. "Sounds like a plan then. Any place you've wanted to see in the Hoenn region? We could probably go to those places while we're in this region."

Without any hesitation Dee replies, "I've always wanted to go to Lavaridge town and go to their hot springs. I've only heard about them and how great they are so now that we're in Hoenn, it's the perfect moment for us to go."

I lightly chuckle, "Alright, we'll spend a day or two here and then go to Lavaridge. I've been there once for ranger business, and it's not too far by flying."

"Great," Dee smiles, "let's go check out the Oceanic Museum here. They should have some interesting things there."

Without allowing me to agree on going with her, she grabs my wrist and drags me down the lively streets of Slateport. We weave and dodge through crowds of people who are taken aback by how fast we're moving. We're not in a rush or anything, but Dee is apparently really interested in this stuff so she's eager to get there as soon as possible. We find the museum resting at a top of a cliff that overlooks the crystal waters that extend to the horizon.

Immediately when we enter the sliding doors of the museum, we're consumed in brisk air and sounds of the ocean. We pay our fee and advance into the first floor of the museum. The museum is pretty dark to let the glowing blue lights of the aquatic tanks stand out. Displays such as ships, seashells, fossils, and such have a dim light shining on it. Running along the walls are aquariums filled with sapphire blue water and water-type Pokémon. I'm a little mesmerized by the beautiful color of the water and how they can contain Pokémon in it. A Feebas swims by followed with a school of Luvdiscs. Feebas, a Pokémon that is generally categorized into ugly, is an interesting Pokémon. For it to have the potential to evolve into a majestic Pokémon like Milotic, it's pretty inspiring.

I turn away from the aquariums and I find Dee gazing at some sort of blue stone that could fit in the grips of my palm. The blue stone was encased in glass and was shining brightly due to the glowing lights of the altar it rested on. I move towards her and I can see a sparkle of fascination in her eye. To me, the blue stone is just a blue stone. To Dee it's something much more, and I'm pretty sure she's not looking at it as some sort of jewelry.

I hear Dee slowly mutter her words of fascination, "The Blue Orb, an item to calm the legendary Pokémon, Kyogre. Its beautiful sapphire color hiding secrets of its powers. Amazing isn't it?"

I slightly zoned out when she was talking, but I got the gist of what she was saying. "Yeah, I guess. It kind of looks like the Dark Stone though, minus the fact that the colors are different."

"Both are very legendary artifacts that have connections to amazing Pokémon," Dee remarks, "come on let's see what the next floor has."

Once again, she takes my wrist and drags me up the escalators to the next floor; not that I'm complaining. The escalator ride up has the walls made of an aquarium. The water-type Pokémon are swimming by, but this aquarium has larger Pokémon like Gorebyss and Huntail. When the escalator nears the end of its journey I look at the deep end of the aquarium to find that it's connected to the sea so any water-type Pokémon can just swim into the aquarium. It's actually a relief to know that they're not holding these Pokémon in captivity or anything.

The next floor isn't much different compared to the first in terms of the lighting and background music. This level has more rare seashells, fossils, scales, and artifacts relating to the sea as opposed to the models of ships on the first floor. Honestly, these seashells look like normal seashells. Luckily, there's a small section on this floor that has displays of water-type Pokémon all over the world, though the most information they have of Pokémon are the ones that are native to the Hoenn region.

As Dee is focused on the scales and artifacts of the sea, I'm skimming through the information of Pokémon. Most of the information I already know like how Clamperl's pearl it creates is rumored to have some sort of psychic power. What I'm really interested in is the skeletal frame of a lot of these Pokémon. Since people don't really see the skeletal structures of Pokémon, it's pretty cool to see replicas of them. Another thing that attracts my attention is a large replica of Kyogre, the legendary Pokémon. It's pretty majestic and only a few people have encountered it. It rivals Groudon and there are plenty of legends and myths behind the two legendary Pokémon. I don't know them personally, but if they're legendary Pokémon, there has to have some sort of myth.

I got pretty bored after looking at the replicas of Pokémon, but Dee is still looking at the artifacts. I don't want to force her to hurry so I pretend to be looking around just so it doesn't seem like she has to rush herself. Even in this dark room and far distance, I can tell that Dee is really fascinated with everything this museum has to offer. For some reason I feel a smile form as I glance over at her and her fascinated body language. She's a lot more scholarly than I am and knowledgeable with textbook facts. It's a pretty big contrast compared to how I first met her, feisty and stuff, but that's what I like about her. She has a great balance of vigor and intelligence, unlike me where I only excel at causing trouble.

What seems like hours pass by and Dee approaches my almost sleeping body next to the restrooms. "Hey Noxis, let's go. You look tired."

I slowly shake my head, replying, "Keep looking if you want, I'll be fine."

"That's nice of you, but I'm done looking around. Come on, let's go see what we can get to eat, I'm starving," Dee says. I follow her down the escalators and out of the museum to find the city resting on a dawning sky.

"How long were we in there?" I murmur.

Dee laughs lightly, replying, "Apparently long enough for nighttime to come by."

Even in the dawning light, there are a lot of people out on the streets. Dee and I wander around the streets in search of something to eat. Somehow, we followed a crowd to the street markets. Strings of decorative paper lamps were hung to shine in the incoming darkness. There's a strong aroma in the air that plays with my senses. Dee and I decide to scope around the street market for food and we indulge ourselves with fresh, amazing, street market food. Dee and I separate for a little, but we reunite and I find her holding a bag. What's in it? I have no idea, but I don't really care.

Time flies and nighttime has shrouded the city and yet there are still so many people outside. Dee and I wander around the street market for a while just to see what there is. Eventually we decide to go to the Pokémon Center to rest for the night, waiting for what tomorrow might bring.

My nightmare for the night consists of suffocating in the depths of the ocean. The further I sink into the darkness and no matter how hard I try to swim to the surface, I get pulled down and I can feel my throat being choked. It's a futile battle to try to get to the surface and I eventually drown in the dark sea.

The sun rises too early and I can hear flying-type Pokémon sing outside. I sit up in my bed and look over at Dee's bed to find it empty. I look at the space between our beds and find Typhlosion and Liepard curled up on the ground, still sleeping. I almost forgot that we let them out of their Pokeballs before we went to sleep.

My ears hear the slight sound of water dripping inside the shower. After spending time with Dee, it's only natural that I get used to the fact that she showers way earlier than I do. I sit up and look outside the window near my bed. The sun's rays hurt my eyes and I squint just to see the glittering ocean.

My eyes stare outside for minutes and I didn't catch Dee's voice at first. Dee was at the brink of yelling before she got my attention, "Noxis. Noxis. Noxis!"

"Yeah?" I reply monotonously.

"Let's go to the beach! It's a nice day outside and it would be a downer if we didn't go to the beach at all while being here," Dee suggested.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea of relaxing on the sands of the beach. I'm just not exactly comfortable with revealing myself, but I do have the option of wearing a shirt anyway, so it isn't too big a deal. Honestly, what I'm worried about right now is my growling stomach. I nod and reply, "Yeah, sure. Let's see if we can find some food while we're there."

Dee smiles and says, "Alright! Get ready then, let's head down there as soon as possible!"

I turn my head and found Dee already in her swimsuit. Covering her lower half is a towel. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and falls down her back. Her breasts are covered by a violet bikini with some sort of black swirling designs. I try my best not to stare, but her body is very…well, proportioned. She threw down swimming trunks next to me and smiled widely. These swimsuits must have been what she bought at the street market last night.

I quickly shake my head and smile slightly. I get off my bed and head into the bathroom with the swimming trunks. I strip down and hop into the shower for a quick morning rinse. When I'm done I try myself off and put on the swimming trunks. I look into the slightly fogged mirror and find the red swimming trunks with white symbols hang around my waist. Luckily, these swimming trunks reach below my knee instead of being extremely short. I throw a shirt on and move out of the bathroom.

I see Dee fixing her hair in the reflection of the television. She turns to me and has a disappointed face. I ask, "What's wrong?"

Dee shakes her head and replies, "It's nothing really, but we're heading to the beach. Why the shirt?"

She's disappointed because I decided to wear a shirt? It's not like she hasn't seen me shirtless or anything, but I guess I can understand where she's coming from. Going to the beach and all, wearing a shirt would be strange. "I'll take it off when we get there, let's get going," I say moving towards the door.

Dee smiles and nods, "Okay. Come on Liepard." Dee grabs her bag then moves towards me and both Liepard and Typhlosion follow her out the door.

We make our way down and out of the Pokémon Center we stayed in for the night. It's especially hot today; the sun is as hot as a flamethrower. Dee and I, along with Liepard and Typhlosion, make our way to the beach, which wasn't too far of a walk from the Pokémon Center. There are a lot of people out here today, several of them brought their own beach chairs, blankets for picnics, umbrellas, and food. There are many food vendors cooking, mixing the aroma of food with the scent of the ocean.

We decide to make our spot near a beach shack that sells food and refreshments. Liepard and Typhlosion lie down and soak up the sun. Dee unknots the towel she had hanging around her waist and reveals the bottom part of her swimsuit. Her legs are long and lightly tanned. Once again, I try not to stare, but her figure is just…well, really nice. She sets her bag down and pulls out some suntan lotion. She proceeds to rub the lotion on her arms and legs.

I look around quickly just so I can stop staring at Dee. The beach, although quite a bit of people are here, has a lot of space just to maneuver around in. It is pretty early so people being at the beach should be pretty small compared to the amount we saw yesterday.

"Hey Noxis," Dee calls out to me. I turn my head to her and I find her arms and legs shining from the lotion. "Can you put lotion on my back, I can't reach." She pulls her hair around her neck.

"Uh, sure," I reply lowly. My heart is beating quickly for no reason. I kneel down and grab the lotion and splatter the lotion in to my hand. I proceed to rub it all over Dee's back, and I try to make it as quick as possible. When I finish I say, "There you go."

"Thanks Noxis," she takes the bottle of lotion back and says, "Off with the shirt Noxis, you'll need some of this too."

I sigh as I reluctantly start to discard my shirt. Yeah, yeah, I may have a body that a lot of guys might want, but that doesn't mean I like to show it off. I sit down and I'm taken by surprise that Dee starts putting the lotion against my back. I grab the bottle and put some lotion in my hand so I can get my arms and legs done.

"Seriously Noxis, I don't know why you're so shy to reveal more skin. You're really built, it would be a waste for you to not at least flaunt it at least a little," Dee says with a light giggle.

What the hell? I mean, I should be flattered that she thinks that way and stuff, but that's something that I'm just not sure about. "Uh, thanks Dee," are the words that I can mutter. I can pretty much guarantee myself that I am blushing at this very moment; luckily Dee can't see my face right now.

When she's done rubbing my back with lotion, though it did feel pretty good since I needed a backrub in a long time, I stand and Dee leads me to the ocean. Typhlosion and Liepard remain in our spot to watch over Dee's bag. The ocean's grasp immediately wraps around my ankles, then knee, then my waist. The water isn't extremely cold nor is it hot, it feels just right. Before I can simply just embrace the nice feeling the water has on my body, I'm violently tackled by Dee into the water. Because I was taken by surprise I fight my way back up.

When I resurface I immediately wipe my face and shake my head. I look at Dee who had a wide smile and began to laugh loudly. I'm pretty sure I'm blushing at this moment, but in the next I wrap my arms around Dee and pull her into the water.

Time passes by and I have no idea how long Dee and I spent in the ocean. I haven't felt time fly by as quickly as it did. I swear all we did was just wrestle in the water, splash each other in the face, and overall just had a good time. By the time we return to Liepard and Typhlosion, many more people are on the beach and the sun has grown even hotter. Dee and I dry ourselves off with the towels she brought.

While drying ourselves, I hear a woman's voice say, "Hey you're pretty hot."

What in the world? I look over to the voice and I find a woman in a bikini, her hair is long and dark orange. She winks at me and I'm taken aback by how close to my face she is. "Uh, thanks," I murmur.

Standing next to this girl is another girl who is dressed more conservatively with a t-shirt tied at the ribs and low cut pants. "Sorry for her, she likes to go up to people and say that they're good looking, no harm done right?" her friend says.

"Uh sure," I reply.

"Hi, I'm Dee," Dee intervenes before the situation could get any more awkward for me.

The girl who's staring straight at me replies, "I'm Cammy."

"I'm Leilei, or just call me Lei for short," the conservative girl adds.

"And I'm Noxis," I say.

"You look strong, and that Liepard and Typhlosion look strong too. We should battle," Cammy suggests.

"A battle, here?" I ask, looking around the area. Although there aren't that many people around to injure, it'll be strange for a battle to occur out of nowhere.

"Yeah, why not?" Cammy says, "It'll be fun."

"I'm okay with battling," Dee comments with a smile.

"Me too," Lei agrees.

"Okay then, double battle, one Pokémon each?" I say.

"Sounds good, let's get started," Cammy replies with a wink.

Cammy and Lei walk a good few dozen feet away from Dee and me. Both Liepard and Typhlosion know what's going on so they get up, shake a bit of sand off of themselves, and get ready for battle.

"Go, Pelliper!" I hear Cammy call out and throw her Pokeball from who knows where she had it hidden. In a flash of light a flying pelican Pokémon appears and takes to the air after cawing.

"Medicham!" Lei yells and the Meditate Pokémon appears in the flash of light.

Before the battle even began, we gain a few spectators that slowly created some sort of arena for the battle.

Cammy starts out the battle with her command, "Pelipper, Hydro Pump on that Typhlosion!"

The Pelipper releases a massive load of water from its mouth and targets my Typhlosion. Typhlosion deftly dodges the attack and takes to the air.

"Medicham, Hi Jump Kick!" Lei orders her fighting Pokémon.

Medicham launches into the air to get a kick on my Typhlosion. Without any orders, Typhlosion duplicates itself with Double Team and avoids Medicham's attack.

"Liepard, Sucker Punch," I hear Dee command.

Liepard jumps high into the air. A purple aura appears around Liepard's claws and Liepard forcefully punches Medicham back to the ground. While my eyes were focused on Liepard, I notice Pelipper squirting water at Typhlosion. Luckily, Typhlosion is smart and maneuvers around to dodge Pelipper's attacks.

"Thunder Punch Ty," I command Typhlosion. Electricity surrounds Typhlosion's fisted claws and he uppercuts Pelipper.

"Pelipper!" Cammy shouts out as she sees her Pelipper twirl towards her in the air. "Shake it off Pelipper and give that Typhlosion your strongest Brine attack!" Pelipper regains its momentum and releases are harsh stream of water from its mouth.

Typhlosion burrowed into the sand to avoid the attack, but the Pelipper was smart enough hover above the hole that Typhlosion made and send its water attack inside it. However, I taught Typhlosion this trick with the Dig move. Typhlosion rises from another hole behind Pelipper and once Pelipper realizes Ty is behind it, Ty will dig another hole into the ground. The process continues for a while and Ty makes several holes that all intersect together. To finish this trick Typhlosion uses Double Team and all of the copies of himself will rise from each hole to confuse the Pelipper. Pelipper is confused by the several copies of Typhlosion and attempts to attack one hoping that it's Typhlosion. Depending on the type of Pokémon Typhlosion is battling, Typhlosion will use an attack that is super effective against it. In this case, I'm pretty sure Typhlosion is going to go for another Thunder Punch. My assumption is correct when Typhlosion rises from the sand with a fist of crackling electricity to deliver the final blow to Pelipper.

"Pelipper!" Cammy shouts moving towards her unconscious Pelipper.

Before I can celebrate my victory over Pelipper I hear Liepard's hurting cry. "Liepard, are you okay?" I hear Dee call out.

My eyes transition to Liepard after it got hit by Medicham's glowing legs. Liepard is at a type disadvantage and I think one more hit will finish the battle for either Liepard and Medicham.

"Go Medicham, Force Palm!" Lei orders. Medicham's hand glows and it dashes towards Liepard.

As soon as Medicham was about to deliver the blow against Liepard, Ty dashes in between Medicham and Liepard and takes the Force Palm to the chest. Typhlosion is launched back but he lands on all fours. From the strain of Typhlosion's body I can see the damage that Force Palm really did to him.

Taking this opportunity, Dee commands Liepard, "Night Slash Liepard!" Liepard's claws glow and have a black aura. It lunges towards Medicham and slashes with its claws. Medicham is sent flying into the air and lands before Lei he falls to her knees from defeat.

Cammy moves towards Dee and myself after calling her Pelipper back and says, "Wow, you two are really strong. Strong and good looking, that is a deadly combination."

"Uh thanks," I say.

"Listen a few of my friends are going to get together tonight, you two should come hang out with us," Cammy suggests.

"We'll be there!" Dee replies before I can object.

"We will?" I ask.

"Yeah! We're heading out tomorrow to Lavaridge Town so it'll be fun just to hang out for the last night we're here," Dee says with a smile.

Cammy claps and says, "Great! We're all going to be at the south end of the beach tonight, be there!"

"We will," Dee nods.

"Great, we'll see tonight then," Lei says, "come on Cammy let's go get something to eat."

"Bye Dee, bye Noxis!" Cammy says then parts ways with Dee and myself.

"What should we do until then?" I ask. Not that I'm not excited to go to whatever it is tonight, but I'd rather just get some more rest.

"Let's just enjoy our time here," Dee suggests with a smile.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Once again I apologize for this long delayed chapter. I've been focusing on school, and finals week is coming up on me so I need to prep for that. Hopefully I'll get a few chapters done before then and during my winter break. I have also been working on my bigger story that I've been writing for, pretty much, ever. And I've also been writing a side story as well, which I actually might make a blog for. All in all, I've been doing a lot of things. And if anyone is concerned if their OCs will return or not, they will, but it will take a few chapters. Anyways, I hope you guys are doing well. =]


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